A Fiendish Influence
by Fenris1872
Summary: Discontinued From My Other Profile
1. Chapter 1

Kashima Naoki let out a yawn as he found himself entering a small town in England.

According to the sign it was called Little Whinging and was located in Surrey, not that he really cared about that, he was just travelling through after all.

It had been over a decade since the Conception and despite stopping the worlds rebirth and living in a world where survival was the only objective, he found himself growing restless and craving adventure.

So he decided to wander between the countless worlds in search of anything interesting, honestly he was contemplating leaving this place soon, not much had really caught his attention since he accessed it through the Amala Network. It had taken him several years but he had eventually learned how to access it directly instead of having to use a terminal to jump locations.

Sure he still had trouble sorting through the information contained within the multiversal database, but it wasn't like he was aging, not now that he had reached his prime.

That was one of the advantages of being a demon, they don't really age like humans do.

But that wasn't what was important, what was important was that this world was so far rather boring and nothing was really catching his attention.

"Ow…" he found himself blinking and looking down to see a small child with dark hair and a strange scar on his forehead laying on the ground near him while a group of other children of similar age to him were looking at him like wolves would when faced with a bleeding deer.

It was quite obvious from the positioning of the dark haired boy that he had probably ended up running into him, he wouldn't notice such a thing, after all, Masakados tended to nullify everything that wasn't almighty in nature.

What caught his attention however, was that the young boy that had clearly ran into him possessed at least some magical potential, with that on top of the fact that the three other kids were clearly chasing him, the demonic man decided to have a shot at seeing if anything abnormal was going on.

"You three," he started in perfectly fluent English, it was one of the perks of being a demon, the ability to communicate in any language, even if only demons like Forneus could pass that talent onto humans, "leave."

He didn't bother trying to sound intimidating, his aura would do more than enough to make the children fear him and sure enough, the three children that were looking at the dark haired boy scurried away at that command, leaving him alone with the boy with glasses and a lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead.

"W-who are you?" the boy was obviously nervous, he didn't blame him, he would be too if he was a normal human meeting a god slaying demon for the first time.

"Hitoshura," his response was perfectly normal for him, he had long since discarded the name Kashima Naoki when he started travelling through alternate worlds… after all, Kashima Naoki was a presence unique to his own reality and he was most certainly not.

"That's a funny name," the green eyed boy commented with a completely innocent expression… ah how nice it would be to once again be a naïve child.

It would be interesting to see if this child knew anything or could give him any hints as to anything interesting that might be happening in this world, so he decided to do something he was quite used to by now.

"So, do you know any good places to have a rest?" he asked the little child, idly wondering if children were never taught to not talk to strangers in this world or if he had just forgotten.

"There's a park over there," the bespectacled child pointed easily, earning a soft smile off the demon.

"I see, would you come with me? There are some things I want to talk with you about," his smile was warm and caring but on the inside, there was only the cold, dark heart of a demon that had once been human.

"Uh, yeah," the complete lack of understanding in the child's eyes made it clear to him that this boy was ignorant of the danger he was in, then again, he was hiding his less human features, namely the glowing tattoos and the sensory horn on the back of his neck.

Silence reigned as the two walked towards the park, Naoki, wearing his standard capris and a leather jacket he had 'procured' on his first trip to another world.

He noted how the young boy seemed extremely jittery and kept looking around as if he was expecting someone to jump out on him at any moment.

"So, why were those boys chasing you?" he asked as he took a seat against a tree, making the scarred boy flinch at the noise.

"They just do, it's one of their hobbies," the way the young boy made that statement made it clear to the near invulnerable demon that he was telling the truth.

"And why aren't your parents doing anything about it?" the question was simple but the young boy flinched as if he had just been hit with a rock.

"They're dead," the Hitoshura simply nodded at that statement, not bothering to fake human emotions at that titbit of information.

"So what about the people you live with?" he noted the way the child looked completely shocked at his casual dismissal of his parents death but that didn't really matter as far as the demon was concerned.

"…" the young boy seemed hesitant to say the next piece of information but eventually spoke, "they encourage it."

Ah, child abuse, not a sin he normally encounters in his travels but still nothing new either.

"Any idea why?" he doubted the boy would be ignorant of why they hated him, even if it was likely that he would be told it in an unrelated context so as to make his tormenters feel superior.

"They call me a freak, that my parents deserved to die how they did and how I should be grateful they let me sleep in their house," the tears that were threatening to spill from the younger persons eyes were obvious but once again, the demonic man found himself completely unmoved by such a blatant display of emotional trauma.

What he was taking note of however, was the fact that the boy was magical, his guardians called him a 'freak' and didn't explain why.

Those were definitely ingredients for the possibility of a secret society of magic users existing in this world.

And with that in mind, he made his decision.

"Well, I suppose it's safe to say that today is your unlucky day," the grin he wore upon saying that made the dark haired child freeze before finding a hand clasped around his neck.

"You see, I'm rather bored right now and you're looking like something I can use to entertain myself for awhile," he decided it was a perfectly valid method of finding entertainment and besides, Lucifer had never said he couldn't do this.

Putting his other hand to the air, he pinched his fingers together and pulled, making the young boys eyes widen in fear.

Marogareh.

A magatama, a source of demonic power and the first of the demonic archives he had possessed.

And he was now going to pass it on.

"Welcome to the ranks of demons," and with that, he let the worm like beast burrow into the poor boy's head and change his life forever.


	2. Chapter 2

Harry Potter woke with a start.

To think he had that dream again.

That dream that was based on the most painful experience he had ever had… it was the only nightmare he ever had now… those piercing amber eyes, the way that demon had casually dismissed everything bad that had happened to him before putting him through that pain.

But he knew it wasn't merely a nightmare, the evidence was stacked too far in the favour of it being reality.

For one thing, he could clearly remember the pain, something he was told you can't feel in a dream… but the most important thing, was what had happened when he had woken up later that day and returned to the Dursley's.

He had gotten angry with them when they started shouting at him. That wasn't normal, normally he would be scared, he would cower and go back to the cupboard under the stairs… but that time he had gotten angry… and punched a hole in a solid brick wall.

That was when he realised that what he had previously thought was a dream had in fact happened… that person, that… whatever his name was, had done something to him.

'Welcome to the ranks of demons'

That was what he had said and Harry, despite being young understood exactly what that meant.

He wasn't human anymore.

He certainly still looked human… well, all except the fact that he now had Amber eyes, but those were easily explained away as contacts, something that his improved eyesight helped support.

But in the end, he wasn't human and had quickly discovered that with power, comes fear.

He was no longer defenceless, he could now protect himself and that ability to protect himself made his relatives scared.

He was fine with that, he now got a proper bedroom instead of the cupboard under the stairs. He also got proper clothes instead of hand me downs and was no longer forced to stay behind Dudley in schoolwork to make his cousin look better.

The only thing he noted hadn't really changed was his food, well, he was now eating less than before but that was because he wasn't hungry as opposed to being forced to starve like he was before.

That didn't really bother him, despite his decreased diet, he was beginning to fill out more than before, something that he knew shouldn't be happening if he was a normal human.

It had been nearly two years since then and he had not seen anything of the stranger that had changed his life so completely… it was infuriating! He had so many questions, questions that only the stranger could answer, questions about what he was and why he had been given this power… he just couldn't stand not knowing everything.

He let out a small breath as he focused on what the day was, Dudley's ninth birthday.

That would mean that the table would be filled with presents and he'd probably just end up skipping breakfast and going over to a friend's house, his relatives would be grateful of that, they didn't like spending any more time around him than they had to.

Not that Harry cared about that, they were far more tolerable now that they had a healthy fear of him in their psyches, so why should he go out of his way to antagonise them when they knew he could crush their skulls like grapefruits if he so tried?

Of course, that strength actually acted as a disadvantage at school, where he was constantly trying to come up with excuses to not attend P.E, after all, crushing the other children in a sport wasn't exactly thrilling.

Shaking his head clear of those thoughts, he proceeded to get dressed in his baggy tracksuit pants and white t-shirt before looking out of the window and taking in the weather… letting a small smile grace his lips as he noted the light rain that patted against his window and picking up the light red coat he usually wore and putting it on as he left his room.

He liked the rain… not heavy rain mind you, but a light drizzle that simply caressed everything beneath it.

The weather he liked the least though, was when it was sunny and the sky was left cloudless… it hurt his eyes, the eyes that had become more sensitive to light after he gained his powers were not suited to handling the summer sun… something the rain helped block out with little difficulty.

"Morning Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon, Dudley," he called out as he reached the bottom of the stairs and noted how the family he lived with were currently in the process of opening Dudley's presents for this year.

He wasn't surprised when they flinched, they had been doing so ever since he had shown that his fist was harder than brick.

"H-Harry, good morning… do you want any breakfast?" Aunt Petunia asked him with nothing but nervousness permeating her voice as she tried to keep her voice under control as she greeted him in a manner meant to not set off his anger… not that he was really that easy to anger but it was nice to be greeted like as something other than 'boy' or 'freak'.

"No thank you, I'm going to go and see if Rachael wants to play for awhile," he said it with a small smile, earning relieved sighs from the Dursley's, they had obviously been afraid that he would want to go an Dudley's birthday trip.

And Rachael wasn't really that important, she was just a girl he had once seen getting bullied by Dudley and his gang… he hadn't been happy with the overweight boys decision to move onto another defenceless target and well… let's just say Dudley and his gang had stopped picking on others after that day.

Rachael herself had been rather grateful for his help and the two had simply started spending time together… mainly playing video games on her NES.

That was one of the reasons he found her presence bearable, she didn't particularly like dolls and playing house, she much preferred to spend her time trying to complete Ghosts 'n Goblins, something he was just as interested in doing.

"Well, I'll see you later," his statement made them all tense as he walked to the door and left the house with no fanfare.

XXX XXX XXX

Harry was pissed.

Not at anyone mind you, he had simply managed to do what he had previously thought impossible, reached the end of Ghosts'n Goblins… only to find out that it just put him back at the beginning with the difficulty ramped up even further.

Needless to say, Rachael had also been pissed at that, both the fact that Harry had managed to get to the end, only to find out that they were in fact only halfway through the game.

"That's not fair!" they both shouted at the same time as Harry once again died courtesy of the screen practically being filled with enemies.

"Rachael, Harry," an older woman said as the door opened, making the two gulp slightly, "what have I said about making so much noise?"

"Not to do it," the duo chorused, earning an exasperated sigh off the oldest in the room.

"Yes, now, it's getting late and you both have school tomorrow, so I think it's about time Harry went home," it may have only been six o'clock but given how they were only nine years old and Harry had arrived before ten in the morning, well, he had been there over eight hours.

"I guess…" he wasn't exactly enthusiastic about that, he had already had a proper sized lunch earlier and that meant he probably wouldn't have to eat until dinner the next day.

"Oh, I guess I'll see you tomorrow Harry," she said with a downcast expression.

"Yeah, see ya tomorrow," and with that, the dark haired boy proceeded to stand and go with his friends mother towards the door.

"Now, be careful on your way home, do you understand Harry?" the older woman commanded him as he stood at the door, ready for the walk back to four Privet drive.

"Yes, understood ma'am," his response was done with what could only be described as a military salute, earning an exasperated sigh off the woman.

"Just hurry back home, alright," and without any further farewells, the boy with the lightning shaped scar on his forehead left the house and made his way back to his relatives home.

He wouldn't admit it, but the way Rachael's mother told him to be careful on his way home irritated him, he knew she didn't know that if he got in a fight with anyone, they would come off worse, he could bend stainless steel with his bare hands after all, but it was still annoying that someone would tell him to be careful of anything.

He let those thoughts drift out of his mind as he arrived back at Privet Drive and found the front gardens surprisingly deserted,

He shook the thoughts of how the place was usually busier than this, it was still lightly raining after all so they would all probably be inside watching TV or something and so he made his way back home.

It was only after he reached for the handle to his relatives house that he realised that things weren't as simple as he thought… as his head spun and his ears rung.

Grasping his forehead in an attempt to stop the sickening feeling that assaulted him, he soon found it had stopped, prompting him to open his eyes and let out a startled gasp at what he saw.

It was definitely a hospital corridor staring at him from beyond an open doorway, the problem was the lack of lights, there was barely anything keeping the area visible but his enhanced eyesight could make out pretty much everything despite that. However what truly drew his attention was the floating blue gas in the shape of a human that hovered along the corridor, clearly conscious despite its obvious lack of physical form.

"I don't think I'm in Kansas anymore," he muttered, quoting one of the films he had managed to watch after asserting his dominance over his 'family'.

"That's right Dorothy," Harry froze, he would recognise that voice anywhere, after all, it haunted his nightmares even after two years without seeing its owner.

"You!" and then he turned around his his eyes widened at the sight before him.

He was definitely in some form of hospital room, the layout of the beds and the cleanliness that existed was proof enough of that, what caught him off guard was the man that had changed his life irrevocably.

He was sitting on one of the beds, a malicious grin adorning his face as he watched the child like a wolf watched a lamb… but what really caught his attention was the man's appearance, the straight, glowing, blue tattoos with green outlines that covered his body, the amber eyes he already knew of and the small horn protruding from the back of his neck.

That was when he noticed that he seemed to share those features.

"Welcome, to the Shinjuku Medical Centre," the tone was mocking, as if he was gaining some great amusement from watching the younger demon stare at his body and feel for his horn, "it is where I was reborn… and somewhere I feel you are finally ready to face."

"Ready to face?" Harry didn't like where this was going, he may not be old but saying that he was finally ready to 'face' this place wasn't a good sign.

"Yes, while it may have been fun watching you flounder around like a fish out of water, I think it's finally time to put you to the test," at that statement, Harry realised one thing, while he hadn't been capable of finding this person, this person had never lost track of him.

"Why?" he decided to ask, earning a viscous smirk off the strange man.

"Because I'm bored," it was a simple answer and despite himself, Harry found himself growing angry. This person had decided to screw with his life… because he was bored? Without thinking, without considering the implications, Harry shot forward and launched a punch at the King Of Chaos.

His punches could shatter stone, bend steel and he had even managed to break a gemstone once before… but this man didn't even bother trying to dodge, he just took the strike straight to the face and didn't so much as budge an inch from the impact.

"Now, now, now," he started mockingly, causing the younger boys anger to fade and be replaced by shock, "you're nowhere near powerful enough to so much as scratch me yet, so wait for now, get stronger and if you still feel like trying to fight me when you're strong enough to be a challenge… well, then I'll kill you."

Harry found himself feeling cold at that statement, to think that this person didn't care if he wanted to attack him and would just kill him if he ever became a proper threat.

"Well, I guess I'll tell you what you're goal for today is," the way the older demon completely ignored the unease Harry was feeling just made him feel even more insignificant against this older demon, "all you have to do, is escape the hospital, simple right?"

He didn't like this, he was being toyed with by someone so far above him that it wasn't even funny but in the end, there was only one thing he could really do in this situation.

"I want explanations," he demanded, making the most influential person in his life quirk an eyebrow and smirk.

"If you want to know anything, then you'll have to find out for yourself," the malicious chuckle that escaped his lips would've made anyone's blood run cold and Harry's was no exception, "that's how it was for me… now be a good little demon and entertain me."

And before Harry could say anything else, the man was enveloped by a red and black vortex that vanished to reveal the man was no longer in the room.

Harry could've sworn… if he knew any curses that is but he didn't so he simply growled at being played with like this.

He hated doing this, but there was no other option.

He guessed he would just have to play along with the elder demons game.

XXX XXX XXX

Harry had to admit, this was far harder than he thought it would be.

It hadn't been that hard to find the exit, the problem was that it was completely blocked off and nothing he tried could get through the debris, so he had been forced to find another path.

It was on that path that he had his first fight with an actual demon… it had been a sobering experience.

He had spent two years as the dominant being in his household and now he was being shown just how he compared to another demon… he really didn't like it, he may have won but it wasn't without injury.

He was thankful that he had met a ghost that was prepared to heal his injuries, the exact manner it did so was beyond him but it was effective

And so he was now once again travelling through the second floor of the hospital, a set of corridors shaped like a U, when a small, almost bird like voice called out from behind him.

"Who are you?" a simple question was asked and Harry found himself turning to face a small, red skinned girl with clear, butterfly like wings and short black hair. She seemed to wear a white, Tangzhuang (a traditional Chinese Coat), with orange slip on shoes and what looked like light brown hair extensions.

"Uh…" he really didn't know what to do right now. So far every demon he had found had immediately attacked him but this one was just looking at him and floating as if there was nothing better to do, "Harry Potter?"

"Of what clan?" the next question caught him off guard and left him asking the obvious question.

"What do you mean 'what clan'?" the response he received in return was a deadpan stare.

"You mean to tell me that you don't even know what your clan is?" the little fairy like girl asked sceptically, making the nine year old sigh.

"I was born human but some weird guy showed up and turned me into a demon because he wanted something fun to do," he explained as well as he could, earning a couple of blinks from the small red girl.

"Wait… so you're some sort of pseudo-demon?" her question went right over the child's head.

"Uh… what does that mean?" he had never heard of anything like Pseudo before.

"That you're a fake demon," the butterfly like girl stated with an exasperated sigh at his ignorance.

"I guess… I've only been a demon two years and this is my first time seeing any others," he admitted, earning a tilt of the red skinned girls head, "until now I've just been living in Surrey."

"So, if you became a demon two years ago and were a human before then… that would mean you aren't from this world," she nodded once as if to confirm it for herself, making the child stare at her blankly, "so how did you show up here?"

"I don't know," it was true after all, that demon that turned him into one hadn't exactly been forthcoming with information, "I was just about to open the door to my relatives house when I got all dizzy and next thing I know, I'm here."

"That doesn't sound like anything I've ever heard of," she admitted with a shrug, making the nine year old sigh in resignation.

"Well, the person that brought me here said that all I had to do was make it out of this hospital," he admitted, earning a nod off the little fairy.

"I see… well then, I've decided!" she chirped out, "I'm coming with you."

"W-wait? What do you mean by that?" he had no idea why she was suddenly deciding something like that and despite how useful he felt it would be to have help getting through the demon infested hospital, he wanted to know why she would help him.

"I've never seen a human world before so if there's a chance you're going to return to your own, then I want in," her explanation was clear and he found himself wondering exactly why she was so fond of the thought of going to a human world, "now, onto the formalities."

"I'm Hua Po of the Jirae clan, please take care of me," Harry found himself gasping in surprise when the next thing he knew, a bright purple light flashed through the area and the little red girl was gone.

"What? Where did she…" he didn't finish that sentence as knowledge flooded his mind, knowledge of the fairy like demon, where she was and how to call her forth.

He didn't know how he knew, but he did and so he did just what his instincts told him to do and called on the demon that had pledged their loyalty to him.

Another flash of purple light and the little red fairy was once again before him.

"Why did you do that?" he asked, his mind was telling him that the red skinned girl had just bound herself to him in a way that only he was capable of undoing and he honestly found himself wondering why she would do something like that.

"I already told you, I want to see the human world," her response was quick and simple, making him frown at the simplicity of her answer.

"But why?" it was what really got to him, why was she so obsessed with seeing a human world that she would willing enter what was practically slavery in order to see it? "what is it about the human world that makes you want to see it so much?"

"You don't know how my kind are born do you?" her question made him blink, honestly he'd never thought much about how someone was born, the Dursley's had never bothered to tell him anything and he had been more concerned about staying healthy until he had become a demon and that had become a natural state.

"My kind are born when three or more people are hung from the same tree," her statement made the former human gape in shock, he had not been expecting her to be born through something like that.

"But what does that have to do with wanting to go to the human world?" that was the only thing he could think of when he tried to understand why she was telling him such a thing.

"I am born from a tree… but I've never seen one before," and with that single statement, something clicked in his mind.

"Wait, do trees even exist in this world?"

"Not that I've seen," her sad smile and that confirmation was enough to let him realise exactly why she wanted to visit the human world… it was just like when he wished he could meet his parents.

"I see," were the first words to escape his mouth, "well then, let's get out of here!"

"Yes sir!" and with that, the duo suddenly became a lot louder and more excited about their impromptu trip through the dark and foreboding hospital, "so where do we go first?"

"I don't know," he admitted with a shrug, earning a couple of blinks off the Jirae.

"Then what have you been doing until now?" she asked him and he just gave her a nervous laugh in response.

"I was just wandering about and hoping I'd find a way out," he admitted meekly, earning a small laugh off the fairy like demon.

"Well, you're in luck, I happen to know how to get out of this building," she told him with an arrogant grin, making the dark haired boy's eyes widen in surprise before a happy smile adorned his face.

"You do?! That's great!" the pseudodemon cried out happily, making the tree spirit's grin grow more pronounced.

"That's right, we just have to go through the annex, there is a clear exit there," the way she said it was clearly arrogant but Harry didn't care, he was just happy to finally have someone who knew where he needed to go.

"Well then, let's go! I have school tomorrow so I need to get back as soon as I can!" the child said with a fist pump.

"What's school?" and with that one question, Harry found himself nearly tripping over his own feet in shock.

"You don't know what school is?" he couldn't stop himself from asking, earning a nod off the little red girl, "uh, well, it's where people go to learn."

"So it's some sort of arena?" the confusion that struck the young boy at that deduction was clear on his face and Hua Po found herself looking for confirmation, "isn't it?"

"Why would people fight at school?" he chose to ignore the fact that he had gotten into a couple of fights with bullies since they weren't _meant_ to happen.

"Well, that's how you learn isn't it?" the way she said it as if it was common knowledge made him blink in surprise.

"No, you listen to the teacher and read the textbooks," he told her with a blank tone, making the butterfly winged demon look at him in surprise.

"What? But demons always learn through fighting and killing," she tried to reason with him, making him shrug his shoulders and let out a grunt.

"Well, human's don't learn how to fight in school, they're taught how to think," and with that one statement, the little red girl nearly fell out of the air.

"They don't learn how to fight? Your world must be very different from this one," she stated with a look of disbelief on her face.

"It is," Harry's admittance made the fairy stare in amazement before she finally shook her head and let a grin light up her visage.

"Well then, I'll get us out of here in no time and get to see your world for myself!" she stated with a happy tone, earning a smile off the scarred child.

"Yeah! Let's do this!" and with that the Jirae started flying ahead and he followed without any preamble.

XXX XXX XXX

Harry would admit, it didn't take that long to reach the annex, it would've taken even less time if he hadn't been forced to kill a piece of paper.

According to Hua Po, it was called a shikigami and was used by Japanese Onmyōji for menial tasks… that didn't stop it from being a pain to kill, that is until his subordinate had set it on fire, that had proven far more effective than his attempts to punch it to death.

Sure he had fought more than just that but it was the strongest of the enemies he had encountered in the hospital, the rest were all mostly cannon fodder for his combination with Hua Po.

It was when he entered the annex that he felt a sense of foreboding fill his body.

The massive area, easily two floors in height and thirty metres across was almost completely devoid of all life… there was only one other there.

"Hello there!" the other occupant of the room called out cheerily, "master said it would be boring if he didn't make things a little harder for you so he sent me to meet you here."

"Pfft," Harry couldn't stop himself from looking at Hua Po as she started to snort in amusement at the other demon.

The one that was guarding the exit wasn't exactly intimidating, at roughly the same height as his partner and wearing a blue leotard with bicep length gloves and thigh high stockings, she didn't exactly look imposing. On top of that, her short red hair and insect like wings only further made her look even less threatening.

"Hua Po… what is that?" he asked earning full blown laughter from the small red fairy like demon.

"That… master, is a pixie, one of the weakest demons around, for this person to send something like that after you makes it obvious he isn't anything special," the sheer amusement in her tone made Harry glance back at the cheerful pixie… only to gulp nervously as he saw the look of hatred in its eyes as it raised its hand to point towards the duo.

"Megidolaon," and with that one word, everything changed.

He barely avoided getting consumed by the searing purple light that consumed the area behind them, before he looked at Hua Po and saw that she had turned bone white.

"I don't care what you say about me, but talking ill of the Hitoshura is unforgivable," the little redhead that had just vaporized everything within ten metres of the wall said with an air of authority.

"H-Hitoshura?!" the sheer fear present in the little red girls voice at that word made it clear to Harry that the demon that had gotten involved in his life was probably well known.

"Uh… Hua Po, I thought you said Pixies are weak," the boy decided to ask, hoping that this wasn't what his comrade considered weak.

"That… that can't be a Pixie," she said with obvious fear in her tone, "Pixies can't learn Megidolaon."

"Megidolaon," this time the explosion came slower, there was an obvious build up and without thinking, Harry threw himself as far away from the epicentre as possible, noting that Hua Po had done the exact same thing before the purple light engulfed the area they had occupied mere seconds ago.

"Well, I guess it's good to know she can't keep up the full sized version," the red skinned fairy stated with obvious relief in her tone.

"Megidolaon," yet again there was a bright purple explosion, this one was even bigger than the first, making his comrade gulp nervously, "just because I chose to hold back doesn't mean I'm growing tired baby Jirae."

Harry found himself swallowing nervously as he stared at the destruction the tiny demon had created with just three attacks, three immense craters and a demolished wall were enough to let him know that he was seriously out of his league right now.

"H-hold on! If that guy sent something like you here, then how am I supposed to get out of here?! " he asked with wide eyes, earning a feral grin off the blue clad demon.

"Now where would the fun be if I told you?" and with that, she raised her hand once more, this time pointing directly at him, "Megidolaon."

Harry didn't bother screaming, he was more concerned about getting out of the blast radius than making his plight known, it was the only thing that allowed him to escape what was essentially a small nuclear explosion going off where he had previously been.

"Megidolaon," and once again he he forced to run, noting that Hua Po had attempted to attack the pixie with a ball of fire, only for the overpowered monster to shrug off the direct hit like it was nothing.

It was then that he finally realised just how powerful Hitoshura was.

He was strong enough to gain the servitude of a creature capable of causing destruction like this, something so strong he couldn't fathom how to possibly fight it… that was when his mind took note of the one thing he hadn't thought of.

And without further contemplation, he ran directly towards the exit when the red haired fairy turned it's attention on his servant.

It only took him a couple of seconds to reach the exit, which he soon smashed his way through and found himself emerging in the most desolate place he had ever seen.

Without any further thought, he pulled on his instincts and dismissed his partner back to where she went when she wasn't needed… within his soul.

"Congratulations," he heard that familiar voice call out to him with a slow clapping of his hands, "I never thought I'd find watching someone fight Pixie so amusing."

Harry found himself growling at the owner of the voice before he lifted his head and let the older demon know his thoughts.

"I ALMOST DIED IN THERE!" he was angry, that much was certain but the Hitoshura didn't so much as flinch.

"Yes, and your point is what exactly?" Harry found himself knocked out of his stride at the sheer lack of concern contained in the demons tone, "I told you two years ago that it was your unlucky day, did you think I was joking when I said that?"

Harry would admit that he didn't remember much of that day but in the end, he couldn't deny what the powerful demon said, in the end, he was now being treated like a flea in a flea circus… a bit of amusement and nothing more.

"Well, I guess you did complete my little game so I should give you a prize," the demon said with a shrug before pulling a familiar, worm like creature from a ripple in the air.

"W-what is that?" Harry knew he had seen one before and that it had burrowed into his head, but in the end, he knew practically nothing about the creature.

"Hm, it is a Magatama, a source of demonic power," it was obvious Hitoshura was wondering just how much he should let the child know as he explained it to him, "they impart both strength and knowledge to its host, I already gave you Marogareh, a more physically inclined magatama, this is Wadatsumi, an ice based Magatama, they're really easy to switch so I'll let you figure it out yourself."

Then the older of the two threw the source of power towards him, making the child catch the worm before his instincts took over and allowed him to store the creature the same way the original owner did.

"Now that that is over, I guess I'll send you back home," the shrug the older demon gave was enough to tell the child that there wasn't really that much the one known as Hitoshura cared about, "but before then, I'm going to give you a job."

Harry definitely expected this to be hard, he had almost died playing this guy's game and now he was telling him that he wanted him to do an actual job.

"Don't worry, all you have to do is interrogate your relatives," the way he said it made it clear that there was something Harry was missing, something that Hitoshura wanted to know, "just make them tell you everything they can about any secret magical societies in your world, simple right?"

At that statement, Harry felt his mind freeze in shock.

Secret magical societies? Surely those didn't exist… but when he thought about it, it wasn't really that farfetched, here he was in a completely different world ruled by demons, a world where he had seen that magic was most definitely real and he was questioning the existence of a secret society?

"Well, that's all for today," and with a simple wave of his hand, Harry found himself losing all sense of orientation once again, "I'll see you sometime next year."

When Harry finally regained his bearings, he found himself once again outside 4 Privet Drive, with no evidence of his disappearance making itself known.

The only thing that made it clear to him that he hadn't been hallucinating was the instincts that let him know that Hua Po was right there in his soul.

Shaking his head, he opened the door and decided to get his 'job' out of the way.

"Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, we need to talk."

XXX XXX XXX

Harry couldn't stop himself from frowning as he entered the bath later that day, to think that his relatives had been keeping something so important from him all his life.

He was from a family of wizards.

It was definitely something he had not expected to hear, then again, given the fact that he had to threaten them with another broken wall, it was a surprise they had told him at all.

"So… you're a wizard?" a familiar voice called out as he entered the water.

"That's what they said," he responded as he looked over to see the fairy like demon that had placed herself in his service.

"Master, you will show me a tree soon won't you?" she asked him nervously, earning a small chuckle off the child.

"It'll be hard to stop you from seeing one if you're sticking with me," he told her calmly, "after all, there are trees pretty much everywhere around here."

The look of surprise that appeared on the red skinned girls face was clear to anyone that looked, before it was replaced by a certain level of contentedness.

"I see, then I guess I'll wait for a little while," she admitted before starting to remove her clothes and preparing herself to join the boy in the warm waters.

Harry for his part could do nothing more than look in surprise when the white clothing slid down the demons body and revealed everything to him, before the significantly smaller being floated over to the bath and took a seat up against his chest.

"Uh, Hua Po… where's your dinky?"

 **XXX The Hitoshura & Pixie Show XXX**

Pixie: Hello everyone and welcome to the first instalment of the Hitoshura and Pixie show! This is a section where we will go over some of the basics of Shin Megami Tensei for those who are unaware of the series, for those who are not new to the series, this will probably be completely unneeded so feel free to skip this section.

Hitoshura: Why are we formatted like this?

Pixie: because the author decided to try something like this instead of trying to explain everything in an Authors note like he usually ends up having to.

Hitoshura: but why is he using us as presenters?

Pixie: Probably because we're the closest thing to figureheads the series has.

Hitoshura: that's actually pretty sad.

Pixie: Well, since this is the first episode, we're just going to go over the basics of the series, namely the origins.

Hitoshura: alright then, so let's get down to the basics.

Pixie: Shin Megami Tensei is a series of JRPG's, produced by Atlus, where the player recruits mythological figures to fight alongside them.

Hitoshura: like the four horsemen, the archangels, Hindu, Shinto, Egyptian and Aztec Deities.

Pixie: The first of the Shin Megami Tensei Series was released in October 1992 for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and has been remade several times but was only released in North America in 2014.

Hitoshura: Shin Megami Tensei 2 was first released two years after the first game and like the first game has been remade several times, but has yet to be given a North America Release.

Pixie: later that same year, a side story was released, called Shin Megami Tensei: if, which unlike its predecessors, has only been remade once, with the chosen platform being the original Playstation.

Hitoshura: it wasn't until Shin Megami Tensei 3: Nocturne that another instalment in the series was created, where it was released in 2003 in Japan, 2004 in North America and 2005 in Europe, where it was given a different name, Lucifer's Call.

Pixie: and then in 2009, Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey was released, originally intended on being SMT4, but it became just like If, a side story as opposed to a main instalment.

Hitoshura: and then finally, in 2013, Shin Megami Tensei 4 was officially released for the 3DS… though the author wants me to point out his annoyance at the fact that it was released in July 2013 in America but still hasn't been given a release date for Europe.

Pixie: well, that is us nearing the end of our allocated word count, since we're not allowed to go over 500 words, we'll just say one more thing before we leave.

Hitoshura: we have only been giving you information on the main series of SMT, there are many more series licensed under that name in the west but they are not licensed as such in Japan, so we are ignoring them right now.

Pixie: Word count low, see you next chapter!


	3. Chapter 3

"Mr Potter, what is sixteen times twenty one?" the teacher called out, making the young demon raise his head from his desk.

"three hundred and thirty six," he muttered before letting his head fall back to the polished wooden surface.

"That is correct, though I do hope you will at least pretend to pay attention in class," the older woman stated with a distasteful expression adorning her face.

Honestly, Harry didn't care what she thought of him, he had much more important matters to worry about.

Namely that it had been nearly a year since he had last been abducted by the Hitoshura and learned the truth about his parents and the last words the demon had said to him had been stuck in his head ever since.

 _"I'll see you some time next year."_

Given how long it had been since that event, he was left worrying about how long it would be before the destroyer of creation would interfere once more.

For according to Hua Po, that is exactly what he was, the demon that destroyed the cycle of creation in the world she had lived previously.

That really did make him wonder just how much more complicated his life had become since meeting the stranger, after all, becoming the plaything of something considered by many to be on the same sort of level as Lucifer isn't an ideal situation for anything.

Plus, the fact he knew without a doubt that Hitoshura could take him anywhere at a moment's notice and any resistance he might be capable of making was useless… well, it was no wonder he was having trouble sleeping at night, even if he had soon discovered that he didn't really need to sleep more than two hours, half that if he had been at school.

Hua Po had explained it to him when he had asked, apparently he was subconsciously drawing in a substance called Magatsuhi, which was basically ambient emotion… and since demons used it to fuel their bodies, being in a place with lots of emotional people wasn't far off a three course meal.

Eventually though, the school bell rung and Harry just sat there for a few seconds before raising from his seat and leaving the classroom despite the teachers protests.

He didn't really care if the teacher didn't like him or his attitude towards school, he was going to be going to Hogwarts when he was older anyway so it wasn't like the mundane subjects taught in this school were going to prove useful.

"Harry!" he let out a sigh upon hearing Rachael call his name, it wasn't that he had anything against her, it was just that he didn't want to get her involved in the demonic side of his life and that meant, that he couldn't summon Hua Po while she was around.

"Hey Rachael, how are you doing?" he asked, his tone tired from his mental issues stemming from his concerns with the Hitoshura and when he was next going to be abducted.

"Alright, are you going to come around tonight?" she asked him with a certain gleam in her eyes, one that he had grow familiar with over the few years he had known her.

"I guess so," he decided to accept her invitation, after all, the gleam in her eyes was the one she got when she was planning on taking advantage of him for her homework, something he was more than capable of helping her with.

The rest of lunch passed by as it normally did when Rachael joined him, there really wasn't much to do after all.

"Mum doesn't like it when I tell her you're not eating," she stated upon noticing that he was once again foregoing food in favour of reading a small book he had managed to 'persuade' his aunt into buying him.

She had been really wary of letting him have something like 'lord of the rings' to 'inspire' his creativity concerning magic.

He didn't understand why she cared, it wasn't like it was real magic that appeared in the books, then again, he was comparing it to Wadatsumi so it wasn't really fair.

After all, it wasn't normal for someone to mimic Superman's ice breath, and that was exactly what he did when he had that particular magatama swimming through his veins.

Marogareh didn't give him any abilities like that, what it did was simply increase his strength and give him a natural instinct for battle, something he was now aware of having ingested the more magical worm.

That's not to say he froze everything he could, that would just cause unnecessary chaos but that didn't stop him from finding it easier to regulate his strength when he didn't have it augmented all the time.

So he was now breaking less pencils during school.

Plus it was fun to see Dudley squirm whenever he started exhaling ice crystals.

Being a demon was actually quite fun.

"Meh, I'm fine without it," he stated matter of factly, it wasn't like he was being forced to starve or was sick, though he refused to go to the doctors, having to explain why he had a giant worm like creature burrowing its way through his body wasn't something he wanted to do anytime soon… or ever for that matter.

Plus, he didn't want to risk anyone trying to remove the source of demonic power, he'd tried it himself only to find out that his body now needed one even more than it needed a heart or lungs and he really didn't want to die yet.

"Mum says you need to eat, or you won't grow to be big and strong," Rachael said with a stare, earning a shrug off the boy.

"Do you have any idea why I refuse to do anything in P.E?" he asked calmly, earning a look of confusion off the girl, "it's because everyone else is just so weak I'd feel bad about beating them."

"Huh? Really?" if she had been much older then she'd probably call him a liar but at her age and with her complete lack of experience, she lacked the common sense to accuse him of such a thing.

Of course it was partially true, but he didn't think the excuse 'I'm not human and am always eating everyone emotions' would be appropriate given the situation and his intentions with his friend.

"Yep, I'm just that awesome that I don't need to eat," his grin made her giggle before he turned back to his book and continued reading.

"You'll have to tell mum that," she said with her giggles still leaving her mouth.

That made Harry grimace. He just knew that Rachael's mother wouldn't accept his excuses so easily, though it would only mean she would make him eat a proper meal when they got to her house.

"And she'll ignore it," he muttered under his breath, earning yet another giggle from the young girl.

"Mum's know best," her words were obviously being echoed from what she was told by her own mother but Harry kept silent, he couldn't really say that normally standards didn't apply to him anymore.

Just like his appearance. He had wondered why he suddenly gained demonic features when he was kidnapped but they vanished as soon as he was returned to his home world.

Hua Po had explained it as a clash of nature, that when he was in a world ruled by demonic power, his demonic features would become pronounced but in a world ruled by humans, his human side would become dominant and render his demonic features invisible.

He didn't really understand why it would matter where he was but he decided to just accept it.

"Not always," he finally said with his eyes never leaving the page of the book he was engrossed in.

XXX XXX XXX

The rest of the day passed by without any incidents, well, outside of being forced to eat a normal sized meal by Rachael's mother.

When he reached the Dursley's house he hesitated outside the door, wondering if he would be grabbed by the destroyer of worlds the same way as last time, before he entered and breathed a sigh of relief that nothing happened.

Once again his relatives tried to avoid him to the best of their abilities, they had been even more scarce when he was around after he forced them to tell him about that secret magical society.

They really didn't like the fact that he now knew and would likely be going to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry when he turned eleven… an event that was less than a year away now.

It would be strange not getting to see Rachael on what was practically a daily basis but it wasn't like he cared that much, he found it easier to talk to Hua Po nowadays anyway… he didn't have to hide anything from her after all.

He didn't bother to say anything to the other occupants of the house and instead just walked up to his room where he immediately put his bag of school supplies down and changed his clothes… just as he always did after the first time he was taken from Earth.

"Well, that was pretty boring," a small, feminine voice called from his bed, he wasn't surprised in the slightest, after all, he had summoned her there.

"Which part? School or helping Rachael?" he asked, already guessing what she was going to say.

"Both," yep, he was right.

"Well, at least it's better than being," he started only to be struck with a familiar sense of disorientation, before reappearing in a cylindrical room with a large ornate drum in the centre, "kidnapped by Hitoshura… did you time that intentionally?"

His question was given to the very demon he had just been talking about as Hua Po moved closer to him, having been caught in the distortion as well.

"Yes, it might teach you to not try tempting fate," the destroyer of worlds said with a satisfied grin before continuing, "so, it's time for the second game, this time you have all weekend to complete it."

That made Harry gulp nervously, the fact that he would be stuck here for a little over two days was not an appealing thought for the boy.

"What are the rules?" he asked as seriously as he could, earning a grin off the older demon.

"All you have to do, is buy the magatama Shiranui," Harry found himself narrowing his eyes as he looked at the amber eyed demon and decided to ask the one question that popped into his head.

"What's the catch?" his tone was guarded and the grin he got in response told him everything he needed to know.

"Now where's the fun in telling you that?" and just as that strange red and black distortion of his enveloped him he said those words that annoyed the young wizard more than anything else, "now entertain me."

"Damn him… damn him to hell," Harry muttered under his breath.

"Uh, master… technically he's a resident there," Hua Po reminded him, earning an irritated twitch off the child.

"That's not the point," he then let out a small, calming breath before turning to his companion, "so, do you have any ideas what the catch with his game is this time?"

"I thought it was pretty obvious," she stated bluntly, earning a blank stare off the boy, "he said we're to buy Shiranui… but we don't have any money."

That little piece of logic made the dark haired boy stare at her before asking another question.

"Why can't we just steal it?" his question was answered by the little red girl.

"Because shop keepers keep their goods out of sight and access, you know, like you do with your magatama," she informed him, making him grimace at the statement.

"Then how are we going to get money?" his mind focused on what he could do but only got a shrug out of his partner.

"You could always try mugging everyone, that usually works," he couldn't help it, he just found himself staring at her blankly at that statement as he tried to figure out exactly how that would work.

"But wouldn't they keep their money safe?" he asked, earning a small grin off the fairy like demon.

"Not really, money isn't exactly important in this world, after all, most demons just kill anything if it has what they want," she stated, earning another blank stare of the boy.

"Fine, let's try out your method," he finally conceded, earning a victorious grin off his demonic ally before he turned and made his way towards the door of the area they had been taken to.

Immediately Harry was left blinking in shock at the sight that greeted him.

A large, shopping mall like area with a large fountain in the centre was the last thing he expected to see when he had been brought here last time but that was exactly the sight that greeted him.

"Oh, this must be Ginza, I've heard of it off the odd demon that comes around Shinjuku when they're bored," his compatriot said from over his shoulder, making him look at her in surprise.

"So you know what this place is?" the dark haired boy asked, earning a nod off the fairy.

"Yeah, it's one of the more… commercial areas in this world," she admitted with a nod, making the boy blink once again.

"Are there many shops in this world?" his question was perfectly justified, he never expected shops to exist in the post apocalyptic world after all.

"Not really, from what I've heard there's probably about ten in total with over half of them being here," she informed him with a shrug.

"That's still more than I expected," Harry admitted with a sheepish grin.

"Well, I guess I can't really blame you, not with your first impression of this world," she quickly responded with her own shrug, "still, we only have a little over two days to do this so we should probably get started as soon as possible."

"Right," and with that, he started making his way around the fountain.

It wasn't as if he would have much trouble finding a fight, he could already see several demons staring at him with a critical eye and contemplating attacking him, which probably meant he would end up getting to take the money off the others rather quickly.

That was when he found himself getting 'attacked' from behind… he almost turned to strike at the 'aggressor' before noting that they weren't trying to strangle him like he originally thought they were, but were putting their arms around his neck in what seemed more like an affectionate gesture.

"Hello there little one," the voice that crept into his ear made his heart start racing and his blood start pumping lower… which immediately forced him to realize exactly what was going on.

"Cut it out before I rip your head off," he stated with a growl, unhappy that the first demon he met in Ginza was using some form of seduction magic on him, honestly, he hadn't even hit puberty yet and it had an effect of him.

"Oh, come on, I'll make you feel better than you could imagine," the voice practically purred into his ears, causing his head to start going foggy at the magic interfering with his brain.

"I'm underage, where I come from, that's called paedophilia," he stated as firmly as he could.

"So?" the voice was still sensual and for a brief instant, Harry found himself about to give in to the attempt before a ball of fire flew past his head where the voice had come from.

"Leave my master alone Lilim," Harry mentally thanked his demon partner for breaking his assailants hold on him.

"Master? Oh my, are you trying to lay claim to him at such a tender young age?" the other demon asked with an obvious amount of amusement in their tone.

"Shut up, what are you trying to do?" the dark haired child asked as he turned to look at the one Hua Po had called Lilim.

It was definitely female, with a light tan, long black hair, grey eyes, pointed ears and most importantly, a slender, whip like tail and large, leathery, bat like wings.

Honestly, Harry found his body acting out again upon looking at the woman, her sheer presence could be best described as sensual, all consuming sexuality.

He found himself briefly considering dismissing Hua Po and letting this other demon have her way with him before he once again shook his head and started to glare at the woman.

"Oh? What am I trying to do with you? I would've thought it was obvious," the attractive demon said with a mischievous smirk.

"Either leave me alone or I will kill you," Harry finally managed to get out, it took all of his will power to make that statement, the strength of her aura was almost too much for him to bear but he refused to be beaten by it.

Once again the demon dodged out of the way of a fireball sent her way by Hua Po, the way she made it look so easy was simply alluring but he pushed that thought down before taking a deep breath and unleashing his own attack.

The look of shock on the Lilim's face was clear as the gust of freezing cold wind and ice struck her, the shards of frozen water digging into her skin effortlessly, making him wonder just how powerful his breath actually was.

Instantly he felt the effects of her aura weaken but not vanish, he found himself no longer struggling to keep his head straight but could definitely feel the sheer seduction that existed in the winged woman's form.

"D-damn… ice…" the dark haired girl muttered under her breath as the other demons in the area looked on, some giving looks that made it clear to Harry that they were considering joining in on the brawl.

"Oh, weak against ice are you? Well, I guess it's time to finish you off," Harry looked at his partner with a raised eyebrow before noting the expression on their foes face.

"Wait," he spoke calmly and earned a look of confusion off the red skinned fairy before he walked over to the downed foe, "I'm prepared to spare you… if you give me all your money."

The area grew quiet at that declaration before he noted Hua Po letting out a sigh of exasperation while a look of surprise made itself clear on the devils face.

That look of surprise soon transformed into another expression all together, one that made Harry wonder if he should've just done as Hua Po wanted, it was a predatory grin.

"Oh, you want money?" she asked him as he noted her shivering slow down and her injuries slowly heal… well, slow for a demon anyway, "you do know that getting money here isn't easy… you will probably find yourself struggling to survive if you try to get more with just yourself and the fairy."

Harry found himself flinching slightly at that statement, he remembered the strength of the demons at the Shinjuku Medical Centre and despite striking down this girl with a single attack, she was clearly recovering from it while Hua Po had been practically useless… and that wasn't even including her previous attempts at seducing him.

"What are you getting at Lilim," Harry could tell from the tone of her voice that Hua Po wasn't asking a question but making a demand and honestly, he was feeling like agreeing with her.

That is before he found his will pushed once again as the foes aura grew back to full power.

"What I'm getting at… is how about I give you a hand?" the smirk was gracing her lips and Harry was finding it harder and harder to resist the allure of the winged woman and so he decided to try and get it all over with as soon as possible and reject her with all his might.

"Yes," damn… he hadn't intended on saying that, he wanted to say no, he wanted to stay as far away from this seductress as possible but the smirk on her face let him know just how hard such an attempt would be.

"Then let me introduce myself, I am Lilim of the Night clan, let's have fun together later alright," and then a familiar purple light enveloped the woman and he found himself standing there, his eyes wide in shock as the aura of seduction vanished from the area.

"Oh boy…" was the only sentence to leave his mouth.

"Well," the curt call of his first partner came from behind him and he found himself turning with a certain level of nervousness in his being at his failure to collect money off the woman, "that didn't go how I expected but I guess it'll prove useful at some point."

"I didn't intend on accepting her," he admitted earning a non-committal shrug off the red skinned Jirae.

"That doesn't matter," the easy way she said that made Harry wonder just what she thought of the Lilim, "what matters is that we now have a useful tool in our quest for more money!"

And with that statement, Harry found himself slumping in exasperation, Hua Po really didn't care that he'd just accidentally contracted a complete pervert that seemed to want nothing more than get into his pants.

He idly wondered how long it would be before she succeeded.

"So, first things first, we need to see just how expensive Shiranui is," and without any further words, the little dark haired demon started flying towards a random door.

And so Harry followed while idly wondering why the master was being directed by the servant.

XXX XXX XXX

"I thought you said Ginza was the commercial hub of this world?" Harry asked as he exited the last door he had managed to find, not one of them had been to a typical store.

"That's what I heard it was, I didn't realise they were talking about other types of store," the fairy like demon muttered.

"Oh, are you saying you want a standard shop?" a familiar voice called out from right behind Harry as a pair of arms wrapped around his shoulders, an action that made his eye twitch.

"Will you stop draping yourself all over master you promiscuous hag?!" the way the red skinned demon yelled that demand at the newest addition to his team was rather telling… Harry was simply thankful that he was no longer facing the full brunt of the winged woman's aura.

Though it was apparently impossible for her to get rid of it completely and as such, Harry found himself almost melting into her embrace, his head happily finding a pair of soft pillows…

He jerked his head forward at the realisation of exactly what he was resting his head against, an unfamiliar blush adorning his cheeks.

Honestly, he was too young to be thinking about things like that, hell, he was still bathing with Hua Po… even if she was the one that had given him 'the talk' about the birds and the bees… or was it better to call it the bees and flowers, he felt that was a better simile.

So why did he have to accidentally contract a sex crazed succubus that made him think about those types of things simply by existing? And why was he keeping her summoned when she made him so uncomfortable?

That last question was the one that bugged him the most, because he knew that he should just dismiss her back to his soul but he simply found himself reluctant to do so.

Maybe it was because of the warmth of her body, the scent that assaulted his nose or perhaps it was the silky smooth hair that would brush against his face on occasion… dammit, there he went getting distracted by the walking object of desire yet again.

"Well, if you're going to be acting like that, then I guess I won't tell you where to find the closest store," the leathery winged woman said with an air of aloofness in her tone, making Hua Po blanch in response.

"Lilim, would you please tell me where we can find the closest general store?" Harry asked as politely as possible, hoping that the newest member of his subordinates would tell him without too much difficulty.

"Hmm, I guess I could tell you… if you do something for me that is," the flirtatious woman said and Harry was certain she had a grin on her face as she made that statement.

"Look, I've got to find a store that sells a magatama called Shiranui if I want to go home, we can… discuss our relationship with each other after I've got it," the boy tried to reason, hoping that she would accept his request.

"And why do you have to do that to get home?" her question was perfectly valid and as such he was going to answer but was beaten to the punch by the red skinned demon under his employ.

"You'll find out once we've completed our objective," Harry found himself frowning slightly at the smaller girls blunt statement and he was sure the limpet attached to him was glaring at her for it.

"Hua Po, is there something wrong?" he asked, his mind managing to push the effect of the tanned woman's aura back even further.

"It's nothing," the way she answered that was enough to let him know that there was something wrong, the complete conviction in her tone and the way she immediately answered without even a pause or moment to think was telling.

"Hua Po, what's wrong?" Harry's question made her glare at him slightly, something he had never witnessed during their time together.

"Nothing's wrong alright!" now Harry was getting worried, she never snapped at him before, however before he could continue his questioning another voice piped into their conversation.

"Aw… is the little fairy jealous?" Lilim mocked from beside his ear, earning an even greater glare off the red skinned girl, "perhaps we should visit the Cathedral and see about becoming one, what do you say master?"

"NO!" that time the dark haired boy practically jumped at his partners yell, while his latest subordinate simply smirked more.

"Ah, so that's what your problem is," the silky voice beside his ear was no longer of concern to him as he tried to figure out exactly why Hua Po was so upset by that particular taunt, "you're afraid of being fused."

That statement made Harry pause. He had been to the Cathedral of Shadows but he hadn't learned much about it, only what that creepy priest called 'demonic fusion' and that he didn't have enough minions to make use of it.

It would probably help if he knew what the word 'fusion' meant.

"What is fusion anyway?" he decided to ask, hoping one of the two would tell him.

"Oh, you don't even know?" the bigger of the two women asked with a smirk, "it's when you take two demons, destroy their bodies and combine their essence to create a new demon."

And that explanation made him freeze and stare at the leotard wearing demon in surprise, the sheer fact that she could talk about being destroyed so easily was rather unnerving for him.

"How can you talk about something like that so easily?" he asked, earning a grin off the bat winged demon.

"Because I know my essence will live on in a stronger form," she answer easily, making Harry's eyes widen in surprise, "though I am worried I'll end up less attractive if I do it but then again, becoming one with you should make it much more bearable."

"Will you stop trying to seduce Harry!" said boy found himself blinking out of his stupor, realising that while he had been focused on her explanation, his mind had started drifting towards other less… child friendly directions, some of which he didn't even know were possible until they'd entered it.

"Oh, but it's so much more fun to try and get myself a boy toy," the malevolent giggle that escaped her lips was rather unsurprisingly, very enticing as the black haired, soon to be wizard, found himself focused on the dazzling eyes and silken lips of his newest minion.

Shaking his head he forced his mind back to the important matters at hand.

"Wait, can you just tell me where the nearest store is _before_ I jump you… please?" his request was perfectly reasonable as far as he was concerned and from what he could tell from the way her smile brightened at his request, it seemed to be the right thing for him to say.

"Well, if that's the case then I guess I could tell you," she teased with a husky voice into his ear, "first we have to leave Ginza, travel East until we reach a warehouse, inside that warehouse is an entrance to the great underpass of Ginza, there is supposed to be a store located right there."

"T-thank you Lilim," he quickly found himself once again having to restrain his urges and looked at his smaller partner, "so, let's get going to the Great Underpass of Ginza… hopefully we'll get enough money to buy Shiranui before we reach it."

And with that statement out of the way, it was finally time to make the trek out of the mall and into the wilderness, his two allies in tow.

Idly he wondered if he would ever find a way back here without having to deal with Hitoshura… Nyx's lounge definitely looked nice… if it wasn't for that drunk that took up a corner that is.

He never would've imagined the Norse God Of Trickery was an alcoholic.

 **XXX The Hitoshura And Pixie Show XXX**

Pixie: and welcome back to the Hitoshura and Pixie show!

Hitoshura: are we still doing this?

Pixie: yep, not enough people complained to get us off the air so we're continuing with our brief explanations on all things SMT!

Hitoshura: I see.

Pixie: yep, so this episode we're going to talk a little bit about Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne… or Lucifers Call if you live in Europe like the author.

Hitoshura: well, if we're talking about that game then it's only right to point out that I'm the main Protagonist in it, though there are a few things you need to know.

Pixie: such as how you don't have a default name and the generally accepted name for your human self is only Kashima Naoki due to the Japanese radio play where they decided to give you that name.

Hitoshura: then there is also the fact that the author decided to use my Japanese title instead of my English one, probably because SMT is a Japanese franchise, in the English versions my title is Demi-Fiend.

Pixie: the Fiends are a special group of demons in the game, with the first three, and the special guest not really conforming with the other six.

Hitoshura: yeah, the first three are a Matador, a Monk and an expy of Ghost Rider… the last of them is dependent on the version you have, in that it is either Raidou Kuzunoha from a series of Devil Summoner games or…

Pixie: Dante from Devil May Cry!

Hitoshura: that's the version the author has.

Pixie: yep, and just to let you know, it was legally done as well, the main artist of SMT was sent to Capcom to design Dante's Devil Trigger form for the third game and in exchange, they got to use him in their game, pretty cool huh?

Hitoshura: except for how he kept shooting us.

Pixie: well to be fair, most players had probably fused me by then so it was mostly just you getting shot.

Hitoshura: fine, well, the basic story of Nocturne is simple, the world ends and a few humans survive the apocalypse and are tasked with creating the world in an image that suits them.

Pixie: however since a certain heterochromatic blond takes an interest in the protagonist, he is transformed into a demon and denied the right to create his own reason… the term given to the basis of the recreated world.

Hitoshura: there are six endings in the maniax's edition, the only one to get localised in America and Europe, which I think we'll go over later.

Pixie: yeah, we are running kinda short on words again aren't we.

Hitoshura: I wonder if the author would extend our word limit if enough people ask?

Pixie: probably, but that would probably take a bit of convincing.

Hitoshura: well, whatever, so for now, we shall bit you farewell.

Pixie: See you all later!


	4. Chapter 4

Harry couldn't stop himself from letting out a gasp of amazement as the group of three made their way out of Ginza and into the world in its entirity.

He had failed to notice it last time because he was more concerned about Hitoshura and the conversation that was being held there to really pay much attention to the world around him.

This time however, it became clear to him exactly why Hua Po was so amazed by the sky back home… because there wasn't one here.

Instead of a vast blue expanse, there was instead a large blue ball of light… and above it was solid land. Harry really didn't know how it was possible, but they were inside a sphere with a star in the centre… it was strangely beautiful and equally ominous.

"So that's why you were so amazed with the sky," he spoke softly, earning a quiet exclamation of confusion from Lilim and a smile from Hua Po.

"Yeah, it's really different isn't it," she responded, earning a look of confusion from the demon with leathery wings.

"Yeah, so… the question is which direction is East?" he muttered as he looked around in an attempt to find where he was supposed to go.

"You see that large wall over there," Lilim pointed out to him, making him look and see what he was pretty sure was a construction yard, "it's the other way."

Harry found himself giving the woman a deadpan look before noticing his breathing speeding up and his blood pumping lower, so he shook his head to clear his mind of those thoughts.

"So let's get this show on the road already," and with an attempt at opening up a little bit of space between him and his sex crazed subordinate, he started to power walk in the direction she indicated.

"Oh? Are you trying to get away from me, _my master_ ," the purr that resounded through her description of him made the boy slow to a crawl before snapping back out of his stupor upon realising that she had once again wrapped her arms around him.

He mentally grumbled at just how easily she played him.

"Look Lilim, I'm not comfortable with you yet so please, please stop trying to seduce me," he requested, earning a small chuckle off the winged woman.

"But if I don't then I'll get nowhere with my goal," she stated, her voice no different from normal… in other words, sensual to such a level that it could pierce even the most stubborn man's resistance.

"Lilim, if you haven't noticed, we're in the middle of hostile territory and you're distracting _our_ master from any threats that exist," Harry found himself nodding his head frantically at Hua Po's claim, even if he wasn't sure he would be of much use in detecting hostile presences.

"Well… if you put it like that then I guess I don't really have a choice," the obvious reluctance in her tone was enough to make Harry feel a hint of emotion he rarely felt, guilt… that is until he shook his head and cleared his mind of her influence.

He didn't bother responding to her as he sped up on his walk East, he wanted to get Shiranui as soon as possible so he could get home quicker, after all, dealing with a literal wasteland of red, brown and grey while fighting for his life wasn't his idea of a good weekend.

It would only get worse if Hitoshura decided to interfere again.

"MASTER!" he didn't think, he just rolled away from where he was standing before a massive fist covered in brown skin slammed down where he had been just moments prior.

Looking towards the source of the fist, he found himself taking a gulp at the presence before him.

It was tall, probably around about three to four metres in height, with most of it being taken up with its torso, which was wide at the shoulders but even wider at the stomach. It's limbs were as thick as tree trunks and covered in brown skin while a dark grey fur covered it's body and on top of it all, it had a head that reminded him of a ram.

"Crap, Fomor," he heard Lilim mutter under her breath, making him glance at her to see just how unnerved by the creature she was.

"Lilim, what is a Fomor?" he asked as he watched the creature lift its hand and start charging at him.

"Another member of the Night clan, they're much, much stronger than me," she informed him as he dodged out of the way of the giant and unleashed his breath attack, "and immune to ice."

Harry didn't have enough time to disengage his attack before he found himself taking a strike from the beast, a hit that sent him flying what he assumed as about ten metres and left him struggling to get up.

"Harry!" he noticed Hua Po fly towards him, probably hoping to make sure he was all right, however what caught his attention after that was Lilim.

"Rakunda," her whispered voice made its way towards him and he immediately noticed the aura that appeared around the giant before closing in and doing nothing against its thick hide.

The next attack made his eyes widen in shock.

"Bufu," one word, that was all the beast said and Harry found himself watching as Lilim fell to the ground, a block of ice having struck her with enough force to leave her defenceless to any follow up attack the beast would make.

And follow up it did, launching a punch that would crush her defenceless body… if it had hit her that is.

The beast could do nothing more than tilt its head in confusion upon noting that it had failed to make contact with eh seductress before dismissing the fact and turning to the other members of the group it had attacked.

Harry for his part could do nothing more than sigh in relief that he had managed to dismiss Lilim back to his soul before the monster had crushed her, what he needed however was more fire power, enough to take on the beast without taking too much damage.

"Master… I hate to be the bringer of bad news, but I'm weak to Ice too," and he found himself swallowing nervously upon hearing Hua Po's declaration before noting that the beast was once again charging at them.

It was at that moment that he decided to do the only thing that made sense to him at that moment.

He dismissed the Jirae back to his soul.

And then he ran.

He just knew that the monster he was facing was too much for him to fight, even if he switched to Marogareh he wouldn't be capable of matching the beasts strength and it was clearly too resistant for him to truly harm, so he ran, as fast as his legs could carry him.

He didn't pay attention when the monster sent a chunk of Ice at him, he just knew that it wouldn't hurt him so long as he had Wadatsumi flowing through his veins, so he paid it no attention.

The problem though, was that despite being more agile than the beast, it's legs were more than large enough to let it keep up with him.

He needed to do something… anything to stop it from following him.

He knew that Lilim and Hua Po were both raring to have a go at the beast, he could feel them raging against his soul to be released and help him… but this wasn't like dealing with Pixie, that monster had been playing with him and Hua Po last year, so he felt he could easily leave her be and she would survive long enough for him to dismiss.

But this enemy was actively trying to kill them.

There was no guarantee either of his comrades would survive, especially given how they were weak against the beasts magic.

He just didn't know what he could do.

Even if switching to Marogareh would let him read the demon's moves better and enhance his physical strength, he would lose his elemental immunity and even more importantly… it was possible simply switching could leave him open long enough for the beast to kill him.

Swapping Magatama was a painful experience after all.

Then again what else could he expect from letting a worm like creature with mandibles burrow through his eye.

He still didn't know how he still had both eyes after doing that.

The worst part was that the creature was clearly unprepared to talk about anything.

Then he saw it.

About three metres tall with trunk like limbs and the head of a ram.

It was another Fomor.

His mind immediately came to a simple conclusion, a method of either saving his hide or guaranteeing his death…so he took it, knowing that if he didn't then he would probably die anyway.

He rushed towards the other giant, an action that drew its attention before he got within arm's reach of it.

And then he slid through its legs and carried on running.

He heard a resounding thud and jus knew that his goal had succeeded, the first Fomor had been running too hard to stop itself from crashing into the second.

So he ignored the angry cries and reverberating crashes that indicated the two had started fighting and simply ran as far as he could away from the two, deciding to completely ignore the possibility of picking up any spoils when they were finished.

XXX XXX XXX

Harry finally decided to take a seat when he could no longer hear the battle cries of the beasts he had left to duke it out, not that there was really anywhere proper to sit, so he made it with a random rock that jutted out of the landscape.

And without any further ado, he summoned the two that he was sure were going to be at least rather angry with him.

"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING DISMISSING ME LIKE THAT?!" he was caught off guard at the sheer speed at which Hua Po started yelling, the light hadn't even faded by the time she had started her tirade.

"Well, I have to admit, it certainly is nice to be saved like that," Lilim on the other hand seemed almost giddy at the fact that he had dismissed her to save her from the previous foe.

"THAT'S NOT THE POINT! HE SHOULDN'T HAVE DISMISSED US LIKE THAT!" he flinched slightly at the red skinned fairy's rant.

"Well what was I supposed to do, let you die?" he asked with narrowed eyes, earning a serious glare off the girl with butterfly wings.

"Yes."

He couldn't help it.

He froze with wide eyes at her statement.

How could she expect him to let her die for nothing?

How could she possibly expect him to discard her like that?

He thought they were friends… so why?

"Why? Why the hell do you think I could just accept something like that?" he finally managed to growl out through gritted teeth, barely noting that her glare hadn't changed.

"Because we can be revived and you can't!" it took him several seconds to process that statement and when he did, he could do little more than gape in shock at her declaration.

"W-what do you mean you can be revived?!" his question was perfectly valid, from what he knew, once you died you tended to stay dead so the mere thought that it was possible for them to die and come back boggled his mind.

"What? You didn't know?" Lilim said from her place not far away, her expression still one of giddiness, "once we entered your service, you gained ownership of our souls, as long as you're alive our souls will remain under your domain, which means we can easily be restored to full vitality with the appropriate methods."

"But you don't have that luxury! If you die then that bastard upstairs will claim your soul and force you to suffer for sins you didn't even commit!" the girl with butterfly like wings yelled angrily, "that is if he doesn't decide to just destroy your soul outright!"

Harry once again found himself speechless. He had known that a demon offering its services to him was a serious matter, but he hadn't expected it to be quite _that_ serious.

He hadn't expected them to literally be giving their souls to him.

He didn't have much time to process it as he noted a growing group of shadows on the ground.

Looking up he barely had time to jump out of the way of a rain of rainbow wings and razor sharp beaks, but when he finally got himself back into the game, he glanced towards his subordinates, letting an internal sigh of relief escape upon seeing both in good health courtesy of Lilim protecting the little fairy like girl when she had been too busy shouting at him to notice the incoming attack.

"Wha? I only just got out of a fight and I'm already in another?!" his shout of annoyance helped attract the attention of the strange flock of wiry, bird like creatures that had attacked him, he could honestly say he had never seen anything like them before.

Before he could do anything else, a familiar fireball struck one of the beasts, causing a shriek of pain to erupt from its beak as its feathers all caught on fire with little to no resistance, it was obvious from that display that these beasts were not good at dealing with the colourful element.

"Well, I guess I could do with seeing if I can get anything off these things," he mumbled under his breath before taking a deep breath and releasing a stream of wind and ice at the flock.

XXX XXX XXX

Harry had to admit that the group of bird like demons had been a real pain to deal with but in the end, he found himself with a few hundred Macca in exchange for the effort… he really didn't understand why the demons money system had such a strange name but it did.

It was also rather clear to him that the beasts had been far weaker than the Fomor he had previously encountered, a single one of those beasts had been so far beyond him it was terrifying while these creatures had been rather simple to deal with, especially with Hua Po making effective use of her fireballs… a spell she had long ago told him was called Agi.

Apparently she was still working on learning the multiple target version of the spell, Maragi, which would be far more efficient when dealing with multiple enemies like that… he really didn't understand what she meant by that but he wasn't going to argue.

"So… do you think we're going to get attacked again?" he decided to hazard a question, earning a chuckle off Lilim in response.

"Of course we are, what sort of rock have you been living under all your life if you don't even realize something as basic as that?" her response was clearly mocking but Harry could do little more than stare at her blankly.

"It's not his fault he doesn't know much about this world!" Hua Po shouted at the leathery winged demon, clearly angry at her derogatory question towards their master.

" _This world_?" the words that left the seductresses lips were clearly interested as she repeated the most important part of the last statement, "oh? Are you saying that master comes from another world?"

"Yeah, I do," the young boy said, hoping to prevent an argument between the two, "and if I don't buy Shiranui then I don't know if I'll be sent back to my home world."

"Ah, I see, I guess that's why you're so adorably clueless," Harry had to push down the lust that threatened to spill over at her statement, something he was beginning to get used to after just a couple of hours of being in her presence.

"Uh…" he hesitated saying anything else, because he just _knew_ that she would probably do something to make him uncomfortable again, "let's just get to the warehouse alright?" and with that he turned around and started walking East once more.

"Yes, that's a good idea… the sooner you make it home, the sooner I can fuck you," the dark haired woman stated in his ear as her arms wrapped around him, making the young boy blink in confusion before feeling her teeth nibble on his earlobe, causing him to nearly melt like butter against her 'ministrations'.

"Will you cut it out you damn pervert!" Harry could barely notice his red skinned companion's yell, he idly noted that the taller demon's aura of seduction had intensified before shaking his head clear once more.

"I suppose I could… but do you want me to my master?" her voice quickly brought his mind back to an incoherent mess but this time, this time he refused to fall for her manipulations.

"Yes… please stop… at least for now anyway," he managed to push out, earning a pout from the clearly unhappy demon at his decision.

"Well, I guess I'll just have to wait some more," she muttered before releasing him from her clutches and watching with a hint of amusement as he started power walking away once again.

That was when her senses screamed out to her and her eyes widened before she rushed towards him and knocked him to the ground as a series of o-fuda appeared where he had previously stood and a bright light flashed clearly.

"What?!" the young boy noted the fact that this time she hadn't latched onto him for her usual reasons and that they were clearly under attack yet again, "am I ever going to get a break?!"

"Master, that was Hama, do not let yourself get caught by it, or you will die," for once Lilim was being perfectly serious, something he hadn't expected to see, that is until he noted the enemy.

It was female, it had a lithe body with pale but healthy skin and shoulder length blonde hair. It's clothing was… risqué at best, involving little more than black leather straps, one that went from her groin to her neck, with two other straps connected to it, one covering her breasts while the other was located roughly halfway between her groin and chest. There was a leather collar around her neck with a long, broken chain hanging from it and what he was certain was skin tight leather hot pants covering her lower area. Then, completely separate from the rest of her ensemble, was a leather blindfold with a strange, eye like symbol located dead centre of it and two long bands of fabric falling from opposite side of her head.

But all of that only made her most prominent features stand out even more due to the sheer ludicrousness of her state of dress… a pair of large, pure white _angel wings._

"Uh… Lilim… is that what I think it is?" he asked with an obvious amount of surprise at the figure currently flying above them.

"What do you think it is?" she asked, never taking her eyes off the creature that had just attacked them.

"An Angel," he admitted with a certain amount of disbelief in his own voice at the sheer thought of _that_ being an angel.

"Then yes, it is what you think it is," his newest companion said, while never taking her eyes off the angel in question.

"Hama," a single word was all that escaped the blondes lips as the o-fuda once again appeared around the two dark haired demons, before Lilim quickly threw him out of the way of harm before escaping herself, the fact that it only took less than half a second to do so was rather impressive.

That was when a ball of fire struck the white winged individual from behind, inflicting a visible amount of damage but clearly not enough to defeat the angelic figure.

Harry noted how Lilim immediately flew up with a look of murder on her face, ready to tear the divine messenger apart, and idly wondered if the two had former history with each other.

But that didn't matter, there was only one thing that mattered and that was the one reason he made his next act.

"WAIT!" his command caused both Lilim and Hua Po to freeze in their tracks as the Angel recovered from the fireball, "do we have to fight miss angel?"

He knew it was foolish, he knew it went against everything they ever taught in Religious Education at school but in the end, he didn't want to fight an angel, they were symbols of peace, justice and protection and he didn't want to have to kill something like that.

"You wish to avoid confrontation?" the angels voice spoke out, it was soft melodic and calmed him down from its peaceful nature and only made him even more reluctant to fight the leather bound woman.

"Yes, I don't want to have to fight an angel," he admitted hoping that he could avoid any further fighting with the blonde.

He noted how the strap wearing woman seemed to think for a few seconds before putting her hand out, palm up and saying something that made him nearly fall over in shock, "fifty macca."

He froze.

"What?" it was the only thing that could leave his mouth at that declaration.

"My price, fifty macca," she repeated, her hand still extended, however before Harry could say anything in response, his butterfly winged companion interrupted.

"For you to leave or enter his service?" Hua Po's question made Harry blink, they needed the money so why was she asking a question like that?

"Leave," the one word answer made Harry wonder if there was a problem with the angel currently floating before them.

"And for your services?" she asked, earning an obviously unhappy 'tch' off Lilim in the process.

"One hundred Macca," the tone of the angel was still the same heavenly sound as before but Harry finally noticed something he had failed to pick up before… it was monotonous.

"I'll offer you sixty."

"Ninety."

"Seventy."

"Eighty."

"Seventy five."

"Eighty."

Harry for his part had never expected to see something like that before, a fairy bartering with an angel, he wondered if the human's had gotten a very wrong impression of the angels if this was the standard most held themselves to.

"Fine," the little red skinned demon admitted grudgingly before going up to Harry and explaining the situationt to him as best as she could, "Harry, please pay the angel eighty Macca, if you do then we'll have another ally, one that could even defeat a Fomor if we come across one again."

That statement made Harry immediately pull out his money and count out the eighty Macca required, sure he wasn't happy with the thought of having to pay the angel to work for him but if it did and really could defeat a Fomor then there was no way he'd reject the white winged woman.

"Here, eighty Macca, do we have a deal?" he asked the angel, who started counting the money he gave it before giving a curt now.

"We have an accord," she stated calmly, "I am Angel of the Divine clan, my services are hereby yours."

Harry found himself breathing a sigh of relief as he felt the divine messenger take a place within his soul before chuckling slightly at the irony of it, an Angel selling its services to a demon.

"I don't like it," he blinked before looking at Lilim, seeing a scowl adorning her face and wondering just how bad the relationship between her and angels were.

"Come on Lilim, that Hama spell you mentioned should be useful shouldn't it?" he asked, hoping that she would agree with him.

"Yes, I know it will… but it's an _angel_ ," she said, practically spitting out the last word.

"And why's that a problem?" he asked, wondering if it was just some sort of feud between the two.

"Well, Angels are the sort to try and punish all sins and given how they consider premarital sex a sin and my species don't do well with churches…" she started only to trail off, obviously expecting him to make the connection himself.

"I see…" he muttered before deciding to do what he could to ignore her after he summoned the white winged divine.

He barely noticed the purple light that indicated the summoning of his newest subordinate.

"What need have you of me," she asked, her melodic monotone making him wonder briefly how she managed to sound so musical without a change in tone.

"Uh… what?" he didn't know what else to say, earning a slight tilt of the angels head.

"You summoned me," she stated bluntly, making the former human look around uneasily.

"Yeah," he admitted.

"Why?" her question made him stare at her blankly, wondering why she assumed he had a reason to summon her.

"Do I need a reason to summon you?" he asked, his tone disbelieving.

"…" the silence was telling as she just kept staring at him with that blindfold practically boring into his soul.

"Well, I've summoned you because I wanted to okay?" he finally said hoping it was a good enough reason.

"I see," the response he got from the angel was said in such a manner that he couldn't figure out if she was upset or simply didn't care.

"So… onto the great Ginza underpass right?" he finally said, earning a nod off the angel and confirmations from the other two demons in his employ.

And so he once again started his journey to the warehouse, hoping that this time, he wouldn't have to waste anymore time or money getting to the shop.

XXX XXX XXX

Harry found his eye twitching mercilessly as he walked through what he finally realised were sewers, though that wasn't the reason he was annoyed.

The reason he was annoyed was because of the sheer number of demons he had to kill to get there.

He already had a few thousand Macca from the fights and was praying that he wouldn't have to get anymore when he finally reached the shop.

Though he doubted it would be easy to get there given the sheer number of foes he was facing and in the end, he was simply glad it had only been a few hours since he had arrived, probably about eight if his guess was any good.

The large, dark corridors of the sewer maintenance system were easily navigated, though he did take the odd wrong turn and got into a reasonable number of fights before he finally reached it… the glowing symbol that according to Lilim represented the junk shop just past the door.

"So, you're here already here," a voice that haunted him called out from behind, making him swallow nervously before turning around to see a familiar flash of red and blue.

"Oh no…" was all he could say upon seeing that pixie again.

"Don't worry too much, my job today isn't to blow you up," the blue clad fairy stated with a sigh, "I'm just to make things a little more interesting for you."

Harry found himself rushing to grab the handle of the junk shop door but it was too late.

It wasn't the same feeling of vertigo he got from behind transported by Hitoshura, instead he just found himself several feet in the air in an instant, his subordinates right there with him as the bright light of the central 'star' of the world blared down on them.

He hit the ground with a resounding thud but was durable enough to barely feel the impact before he rushed to his feet and looked around himself, noting that he was definitely in some kind of construction yard.

And was now surrounded by what were obviously more pixies.

"Oh boy," was all he could say as their faces twisted into malicious grins.

And then they charged.

 **XXX The Hitoshura And Pixie Show XXX**

Pixie: Welcome back to the Hitoshura and Pixie show!

Hitoshura: So, we're back and today we're going to go over the battle system in Nocturne.

Pixie: I thought we were going to do a special on the endings?

Hitoshura: what's there to say about them? In three of them the reasons are enacted, a world ruled by strength, worlds of isolation and a world without free will, then in the other three endings, one has the world restored to how it was before the conception, which is the name given to the apocalypse in the game, another were the world is left in the state it is after the conception, which is the ending this fic is based on, and then there is the true demon ending.

Pixie: where you join Lucifer, break time and space and lead hells armies against God.

Hitoshura: it's also the only ending where I learn the Pierce skill.

Pixie: Pierce lets him ignore elemental resistances.

Hitoshura: which are the key to successful fighting in nocturne.

Pixie: that's right, many demons in nocturne… well, Atlus games in general, have resistances to certain types of damage, which vary based on the game.

Hitoshura: but the resistances always have the same levels, weak, normal, strong, null, absorb and reflect.

Pixie: using an element the enemy is weak against always gives some advantage beyond simply more damage, in nocturne and the avatar turner games, which are better known as Digital Devil Saga in the west, the press turn system is in place.

Hitoshura: the press turn system works like this, each character in your party has one turn… though it is possible to gain an extra press turn in a new game plus, and you can have up to four characters in a fight at any one time.

Pixie: Using an element that the enemy is weak against uses half a press turn and each weakness exploit use half of the next press turn, allowing for up to ten attacks a turn if you have have four party members and the extra press turn.

Hitoshura: when an enemy is strong against an element, they take less damage but that's about it, however if they null it or you miss, they take no damage and you use two press turns instead of one.

Pixie: Then there is absorb and repel, absorb reverses the damage done and heals the enemy while repel sends the attack back at the user… both of these outcomes use up the rest of the press turns and lets the foe have their shot at you.

Hitoshura: those rules also apply to the foe, so using a demon weak to the enemy is a very bad idea in our game.

Pixie: well, we're once again running low on words so we should probably stop here.

Hitoshura: I guess so, it would be nice if he gave us a larger word count.

Pixie: Well, see ya later everyone!


	5. Chapter 5

Harry wondered exactly how he got into this situation.

"So, you're being tormented by the Hitoshura," the voice was soft, tender and the sort of thing that made him think of a mother.

Then again, looking at the Fairy that was speaking to him, it was hard to think of her as being old enough to actually be a mother, after all, she looked to be in her early twenties at the oldest, her long blonde hair flowing like a river down her shoulders and onto her vibrant green dress. She had insect like wings just like the rest of the Pixies but outside of that, only her height was anything similar to the others.

Though he would never deny that the woman possessed some form of ethereal beauty, one that wasn't created by any aura or skimpy dress code, it was simply that she was so regal that it was hard to not focus on her beauty.

If only she was taller, then he might have fallen for her beauty despite his age… and not in the purely sexual way he did with Lilim either.

"Yes, your Majesty," he responded to her question with an air of obvious submissiveness, the fact was that after hearing her name, he knew exactly who this Fairy was.

Titania, wife of Oberon and queen of the Fairies.

And apparently, she and her husband had had an argument… again, something which he wasn't really surprised about given the fact he had read 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'.

What he had found more surprising was that Titania was actually quite a bit more powerful than the King of the Fairies and most of their arguments stemmed from jealousy on his side.

He had forced himself to not laugh at that information, he really didn't want to piss off the woman before him, regardless of her height, after all, she was a master of magic.

And he was very much NOT prepared to get into a fight with ANY magic user after what happened with the lowest ranked Pixies when he had arrived, what with how they had easily restrained him via electric magic before using him as a hostage to force his followers to surrender.

It really was a shock just how much damage magic he was weak to could cause if he got hit by it.

"Hmm, you certainly are in a bit of bother aren't you," the amused expression that adorned her face was clear to him despite her size, "well then, why don't you have some tea, I'm sure it'll help you relax."

Harry found himself mentally debating whether to accept the offered beverage or not, she was clearly far beyond him and seemed to be treating him at least amicably despite the fact he had literally fallen from the sky and into her kingdom (he mentally cringed at that, the kingdom of the Fae was a construction site of all things).

"Yes please," he conceded before noting one of the high pixies float away to retrieve the teapot that was sitting not that far away.

He was rather amazed when he noticed that all pixies looked nearly identical, all of them wearing blue leotards and having red hair and insect wings, but then he had seen the High Pixies, with their vibrant blue hair, purple leotards, black leggings and gloves and boots of an even darker purple.

Though all the High Pixies looked nearly identical to each other as well… idly he wondered exactly why that was but pushed that thought out of his mind as the teapot was brought over to the table he was sitting, alongside a teacup ready to be filled with the traditional beverage.

"Hmm… your Majesty," he started, earning a slight tilting of the Fairy Queens head, "would it be inappropriate for me to summon my allies?"

"Hmm, I suppose none of you are a genuine threat to me, so I suppose I can allow it," the blond woman stated with a smile.

"Thank you," and without another thought, he called forth the trio of women that sold their souls to him.

The three appeared from the purple lightning that normally signalled their summoning, however they all remained silent in the presence of the queen of the Fae, a being more than powerful enough to massacre them all with a single word.

"My, you three look very uncomfortable, would you three like some tea?" her question fell on nervous ears, none of the recently summoned entities knowing how to react to the offer, before deciding to look at their master for what course of action they should take, taking note of the nod he made towards them.

"Yes please," the trio chimed, making the blond fairy nod at more of her underlings, who quickly went to bring more teacups over to allow the newly summoned demons a drink.

"Now, back on topic," Titania stated with her smile still in place, "you said that the Hitoshura was 'playing a game' with you… may I enquire as to the nature of this game?"

"I'm just supposed to buy a Magatama named Shiranui and we were just about to enter the junk shop in the Great Ginza Underpass when his pixie appeared and transported us here," he admitted, earning a sigh off the woman in green.

"That pixie… it used to be just like the rest and then…" the blonde queen started before releasing a sigh, "she should've never accepted the blessings of Amala."

"The blessings of Amala?" he couldn't stop the curiosity from leaking into his voice at that statement and quickly regretted asking upon seeing the look in the tiny woman's eyes.

"The blessings of Amala grant power… but they are corruptive and dangerous, Hitoshura himself spent too much time in the Labyrinth of Amala," she stated seriously as she picked up her tiny cup of tea, "even if he never reached the bottom, it still corrupted him to less resemble the human he once was."

Harry found himself nodding at that statement, while he had never been informed that the Hitoshura had once been human, it wasn't exactly a great leap of logic that allowed him to come to the conclusion that the other demon had once been a boy like himself.

He was rather amused at the way his three companions jerked in surprise at that little fact though, he had always assumed they had realised it.

"Wait! Are you saying that the Hitoshura was a human?!" Hua Po couldn't stop herself from blurting out before flinching back at the fact that she had just spoken out of turn with the Queen of the Fae.

"That is correct, though I do not know much of his past I am aware of that one fact courtesy of an… acquaintance of his that survived the conception," the blonde queen stated with a smile, "and please, there is no need to act so tense, tea is supposed to let you relax is it not?"

"So, this acquaintance of his, what was their relationship with each other?" Harry decided to ask, wondering exactly what sort of person the Hitoshura was before he became what he saw now.

"I am uncertain, she was apparently his teacher at some point but… the trust she seemed to place in him and the effort he put in to meet her makes me believe that there may have been some level of romantic feelings between them," she admitted with a small smile, "though, I may very well be wrong."

Harry for his part found himself thinking on that.

Back in Britain at the very least, student teacher relationships were a taboo, something many considered gross misconduct and any teacher found to have been in a relationship with a student of any age was persecuted against, even if that student was of age.

So it could mean that either, he wasn't exactly a follower of social customs, came from a culture where such things were not frowned upon or… Titania was wrong and their relationship wasn't romantic, for all he knew it could've been a more familial type of bond.

But ignoring that, it did say something else, that he started off trustworthy for at least some things and then lost that trustworthiness to either his demonic nature or his experiences in this world.

Regardless, the fact remained that he still didn't know much about the other human turned demon.

"Is there anything else you know about him?" the question was simple and Harry hoped she would answer in the positive, after all, he felt that he truly needed a lot of knowledge if he was to ever find a way to stop Hitoshura.

"Not long after the conception, he freed my kingdom from a corruptive influence, though whether he cared about freeing us is up for debate… especially given how he left with the source of the influence after it lost its power," she admitted with a shake of her head, earning a small sigh of defeat from the black haired boy.

"I see, thank you for telling me your Majesty," he thanked her, once more wondering if there was any way to find out more about the older demons nature and motives.

"That is quite alright young Harry Potter, simply having the chance to have tea with a someone that is not of my kingdom is a pleasant change," she admitted, making him smile slightly at her admittance, completely unconcerned with her knowledge of his name… primarily because he had already told her back when he was first taken before her.

"Please, just call me Harry," he had to admit, he was actually growing to enjoy this little tea party and the Queen of the Fae was proving to be a far more sociable individual than he was expecting.

"Well then Harry, please, call me Titania," her response made the raven haired child smile lightly as he idly thought of how weird it was to think that he was basically on a first name basis with the Queen of the Fae.

"Titania, may I ask you exactly what the Labyrinth of Amala is?" he decided to ask about the place that had apparently corrupted his predecessor, wondering just how bad the place was to create such a person.

"It is… the closest thing to what Christians call hell there is," she admitted with obvious hesitation, "it is a massive collection of Magatsuhi forged into a series of floors by the Fallen One himself… and while I'm not completely certain, I think it was created purely to corrupt the Hitoshura."

"So, why do you believe that to be the case?" Lilim decided to ask, given the way Titania seemed to be treating them like guests instead of prisoners.

"Because he left when the Hitoshura called down the Tower of Kagutsuchi," the blonde queen stated calmly as she took another sip of her tea.

"The Tower Of Kagutsuchi?" Harry could do little more than blink in confusion at that term, earning another small chuckle off the Queen of the Fae.

"It was a path that led to Kagutsuchi, the centre of this world and the only power capable of mutating the world to form whatever reason won the right to exist," her voice was sombre as she gave that explanation, "that is, until the Hitoshura rejected all reasons and forced the world to remain as it is until the next conception."

Harry simply nodded at that statement, he had already been told about the conception by Hua Po when she called Hitoshura 'the destroyer of worlds'.

Why they couldn't just call it the apocalypse like everyone else was beyond him but he had decided nearly a year ago that he wouldn't try too hard to understand demons.

"By the way… I do want to go home before the time limit Hitoshura set ends," he decided to mention, hoping that she would accept what he was saying.

"Oh, that's no problem at all, all I need to do is use a little magic to transport you back to where you came from and everything will be fine," Titania explained with a small smile, "see?"

Then she clicked her fingers before frowning and clicking them again.

"Is there a problem?" Harry was beginning to worry, the sheer fact that she was beginning to look rather angry.

"Yes, it would appear that a certain traitor amongst my clan is interfering with my magic," she admitted with a scowl, "even if I am naturally the powerful among the fairies, it doesn't change the fact that with the blessings of Amala that particular Pixie surpasses me in every respect."

"So, does that mean you can't help me?" he asked, worry beginning to flow through his being at the thought that this pixie was on another level to the Queen of the Fae herself.

"Unfortunately it does," the blonde queen admitted as she took in the sight of his subordinates, "and I feel I must inform you that as you are right now, getting to Ginza without the use of a terminal will most likely be impossible for you."

The Boy-Who-Lived, as he was called in the Wizarding world, found himself frowning at that statement. He wasn't going to argue with the Queen of the Fae about such a thing, he had already experienced just how outclassed he could be by the appropriate enemy, his little tussle with a Fomor was proof of that.

What made him frown however was the simple question of why that Pixie transported him somewhere where he was so outclassed? He knew that he was still weak by demon standards so why was he sent somewhere that was apparently far beyond his abilities? And then there was the other question.

"What's a terminal?" he recognised the name, it was used in England, even if it was mostly restricted to airports, but in this context, he was left confused.

"They are matter transportation devices, allowing for near instantaneous travel between two locations that contain one," the woman in green admitted, "if it wasn't for Hitoshura clearly interfering with your travel methods, I would recommend using one to get to the great underpass of Ginza but there is no guarantee that your journey would be smooth… or that you would arrive at your intended destination."

"Well, I guess it's better than any other option I have," the boy with a lightning bolt scar decided to admit with a shake of his head, earning an unhappy sigh off the Fairy Queen.

"I suppose you are correct," she admitted with her frown still in place, "well, given the complications in your situation, I suppose I will have to let you go sooner than I anticipated."

"Thank you for your hospitality milady," the amber eyed boy said as he rose from his seat, his subordinates rising alongside him, "it was very relaxing talking with you over tea."

"Thank you for the compliments, if you ever find yourself back in this world, feel free to visit for another session," her smile was radiant as he gave her his own in response, "now, someone please show my guests to the terminal at the Eastern exit and teach them how to use it."

"Of course your majesty," a High Pixie said as she floated up to the quartet, "if you would please follow me, I will take you to the Eastern Exit."

And so Harry did as instructed, quickly leaving the company of the blonde queen while the blue haired fairy led him through the construction yard and towards the 'terminal' as they called it.

"So, do you think you'll return at some point?" the High Pixie that was leading them away asked him calmly, earning a couple of blinks off the boy.

"I guess that depends on how things go for me," he admitted as he bit his lip nervously and the Pixie looked at him seriously, "I mean, I don't know how to return at will and the Hitoshura is constantly screwing around with my life so I don't know if it is possible for me to return."

He wasn't even going to mention the fact that it would be less than five months until he started at Hogwarts and he had no idea how learning a mortal magic system would affect his life.

"And if it was possible to hop between your world and this one at will?" the little woman asked suspiciously.

"If I could, then yeah, it would be nice to meet Titania again," he decided to admit, earning a small grin off the purple clad fairy.

"I see, in that case, I'll give you a little something," she stated before pulling out a strange cylindrical object, "think of this as a onetime summoning spell… it'll call me forth to wherever you may be at the time, then I can set up a terminal for you to use whenever you have need."

"Huh? Really?" at the little blue haired woman's nod, he let out a small grin, "thanks, I'll make sure I come back every once in a while, though I'll have to wait about five months before using it."

"Months?" Harry found himself nearly smacking himself on the head, he had forgotten that the inhabitants of the Vortex world didn't use time phases like hours, days, months and years… they simply used the number of Kagutsuchi cycles that happened in a certain time.

If he remembered Hua Po's estimation, then it was approximately one hour per cycle, which would mean that the number of cycles in five months would be approximately…

"Sorry, I mean about three thousand six hundred Kagutsuchi Cycles," he decided to translate it to a time frame the fairy would understand.

"W-what? That long?" her reaction was rather surprising given how demons tended to be ageless, as in, they couldn't die of old age, even those who were famous for being old couldn't actually age past the age that they were considered to be in their myths and legends.

Not that Harry really cared about it that much, it just meant that any mortal friends he may make wouldn't live anywhere near as long as he would… well, provided he wasn't killed before then that is.

Plus he knew that mortals were nowhere near the level of a demon in terms of power, though he wasn't certain about wizards, they very well could be capable of matching a demon for all he knew, though he doubted they would be on par with a Deity.

"Yeah, sorry but I'm going to be relocated to a place called Hogwarts around about then, when I'm there I can set up the terminal and come visit much more often… you and Titania could even come and visit my world for yourselves if I did that," he decided to offer, earning a couple of blinks in surprise at the possibility.

"I see, well, I hope you return once you've set yourself up at this Hogwarts place, her Majesty doesn't often get to enjoy such cycles, so having you visit for tea would certainly be good for her," the High Pixie stated calmly.

"I will, and I hope you'll come visit when I do," the amber eyed boy said with a happy grin, now that he was no longer being attacked by the fairies whenever he showed his face around them, he was beginning to find them much easier to get along with, "oh yeah, I forgot to ask, what's your name?"

"High Pixie," her response made the boy blink in a bit of surprise, that was the one answer he had not been expecting when asking for her name.

"Uh, don't you have a name of your own?" his question was perfectly understandable given the world he was born in and how nearly every human in the first world countries was given a name as soon as they were born, he didn't know about third world countries but he wasn't going to take them for granted.

"What do you mean?" her question was asked with an obvious level of curiosity and made him wonder exactly what she found so difficult to understand about what he was asking.

"Harry, I guess I forgot to mention earlier," his attention turned towards the demon he had spent the most time with as she started explaining something she had never mentioned before, "but demons don't have names like humans do."

"Huh?" the dark haired boy could do little more than blurt out an unintelligible grunt of confusion at her explanation.

"Every human is given a series of names to differentiate them from each other but us demons simply have our species and our clans," she continued and Harry found himself taking note of how the other demons that had no experience with normal humans seemed surprised at that explanation, though Angel still had the same unreadable expression as always, "like how my species is Hua Po and I'm of the Jirae clan… it would be like calling your Uncle 'Company Director of the Human clan'."

"W-what? Why didn't you tell me earlier?" his question was clear, and the little red skinned Jirae just shrugged in response.

"Because it isn't important," her answer to his question made him narrow his eyes slightly at her.

"Well then… I'm giving you all proper names!" he declared, earning several blinks of confusion from the demons around him.

"Master, you don't need to," Lilim said as she puffed her chest out and pumping up her seductive aura, "as long as I get to screw your brains out then," she didn't get to finish as a fist descended to strike her head.

"I cannot permit any form of intercourse between an unmarried couple," it was a simple statement said in a familiar angelic monotone but the message was definitely there.

"While you may not care," he started after regaining control of his hormones, "I do, and so I'm going to give you proper names."

"I'll admit, I'm interested," the High Pixie said with an amused smirk adorning her face, "so what do you want to call me?"

"How do you feel about Peaseblossom?" he asked, making the blue haired pixie tilt her head in consideration.

"Where did you get a name like that from?" she asked him as Harry found himself struggling to ignore the Lilim's attempts to hit Angel back for interrupting her seduction attempt.

"An old Poet and Playwright called William Shakespeare," he admitted with a shrug, "he created a play called 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' and two of the key figures in it were Oberon and Titania… Peaseblossom was one of Titania's servants in it."

"I see, I suppose I can accept it if that's the reason you chose it," she admitted with a firm nod.

"Hope you like it Peaseblossom," the scarred boy decided to say with a grin, "now, for Hua Po… let's name you Jiao!"

"You really don't need to Harry," his first demon said quietly but he was certain she was growing a darker shade of red in her face at the name he had decided to give her.

"But I want you to have a proper name," he said in a quieter tone than when he declared it to Lilim and Peaseblossom, "you aren't going to refuse my request are you?"

A few seconds passed with the only sound being the fight between Lilim and Angel, who had taken their chase to the air as Lilim continued to try and hit the more powerful divine.

"No," with a shake of her head, the newly Christened Jiao let out a smile and with a small bob, turned away from the boy before plopping down on his shoulder next to his head, "I'll admit, it'll take awhile to get used to having a name of my own but… thank you."

"So, now to think of a name for Lilim…" he muttered under his breath.

"How about Moana," the little woman with butterfly wings asked with a hint of mischievousness in her tone, "it was one of the names on one of those video's your uncle hides in the shed."

"Hides in the shed… oh…" it took a few seconds for Harry to realise just what she was suggesting, "yeah, that seems about right."

"So Moana it is?"

"Yeah, hey Lilim! We've decided on a name for you!" he called out, making the tanned devil look at him before turning to pass on a glare to the white winged follower.

"So, you've decided to give me a new name huh? So what is it?" the dark haired woman asked with obvious irritation at having her attempts to get back at Angel thwarted.

"Moana," he supplied easily, causing a small smirk to adorn the leathery winged woman's face.

"Oh? Does that mean you want me to moan a lot when you enter me?" Harry found himself blushing at her question, he wouldn't call it teasing, after all, he was pretty certain she wasn't planning on saying no if he accepted her offers for 'fun'.

"Such a manner of talking is unacceptable," the monotone of Angel's voice cut through the tension in the air, "as such, I expect you to refrain from such indecent behaviour until such a time as you are seen as one in the eyes of the lord."

"Oh shut up, just because you refuse to open your eyes to sin doesn't mean we have to follow your boring ass example," the newly minted Moana stated with a grin.

"That's enough, Angel, are you alright with the name Dinah?" he asked, hoping that doing so would stop the argument before it started.

"Would it be too much to ask that I be named Elisheva?" her response was certainly different to the rest and Harry found himself blinking a little in surprise at the fact that she seemed to understand the concept of names to at least a certain extent.

"Yeah, that'd be alright, though I guess I should ask, do you have any experience with humans?" his question made sense given how the others seemed ignorant of the customs of humans in his world at the very least.

"Yes, I spent several years acting as a Guardian Angel for a person named Tom Marvolo Riddle before he let himself drown in darkness," she explained to him calmly, making him nod his head in understanding and a slight bit of surprise.

"Oh, is that so," Harry had to admit that he hadn't expected that, then again, he had honestly forgotten about the concept of guardian angels, after all, there was no way he had one given his status as a demon and even before then, he was sure there wasn't one due to how little was done to help him.

Still, at least now he didn't need a Guardian Angel and simply having a hired angel was proving useful for surviving in the Vortex World.

"Yes," her response was definitive and let Harry know that there was no question about the authenticity of her claim, though he was beginning to wonder if he would have to explain to her that she didn't need to answer every single question he ever muttered.

"Well then, Peaseblossom, Jiao, Moana and Elisheva, let's get to the Terminal and make our way home!" he yelled out, hoping that there wouldn't be too much trouble getting back to the Great Underpass of Ginza and buying Shiranui… and even if they failed, he at least hoped that he'd be capable of using using a Terminal to find whatever store it was located in.

It didn't take too long, with an escort looking over them, the group found themselves protected from the usual assaults that would be piled on any regular visitors… and given what Harry had seen of the Trolls and Kelpies that also made their home there… he did not think he would survive in a real combat situation in this kingdom.

"Alright, we're here," the blue haired High Pixie stated as she came across a door with a red glyph glowing on it, "this glyph indicates a terminal room, so if you ever see one like this then you know there'll be a terminal behind it."

Harry simply found himself nodding at the explanation before entering the room with the others, only to blink in surprise at the scene before him.

"Wait! Isn't this the same as that room Hitoshura brought us?" he asked, only for the only demon with him at the time to twitch in annoyance.

"Yes… yes it is…" she admitted with a grim expression on her face, "which means… all this time… WE COULD'VE JUST USED THE ONE BACK THERE AND AVOIDED THIS WHOLE DAMNED MESS!"

The amber eyed boy simply nodded in agreement, he was feeling rather pissed at that fact himself.

"Well, to be fair, there aren't many demons that actually know how to use the terminals and they usually get stuck in the Amala Network and are never seen again," Peaseblossom admitted with a shrug, "honestly the only ones I know of that know how to use a terminal are us Fae, Nyx and Loki in Ginza and the Hitoshura himself… though from what you've said, he's learned how to use their transfer function independently from the drums."

"So… are we going to try going back to the Great Underpass of Ginza now? The sooner you get home the sooner I can get you in bed," Moana asked while looking at Elisheva, obviously expecting her to attack her again.

"You will not perform such indecent actions while I am still around Lilim," the white winged being stated firmly.

"Elisheva… her name is now Moana," Harry stated bluntly.

"I know," the blindfolded woman stated without a hint of hesitation.

"Then why did you refer to her like that?" the dark haired boy's question was simple and the response was just as simple.

"I was referring to her species."

"Fine… let's just get going before you two try to kill each other again," and with that, he turned towards the High Pixie, "so exactly how do I use this thing?" he asked as he patted the drum.

"Oh, it's simple really, all you do is this."

 **XXX The Hitoshura And Pixie Show XXX**

Hitoshura: well… that was rather depressing.

Pixie: DEPRESSING?! THE AUTHOR IS TAKING WAY TOO MANY LIBERTIES WITH OUR CHARACTERS!

Hitoshura: well, to be fair, we don't exactly get much in the way of dialogue in the games, so our personalities aren't exactly well fleshed out.

Pixie: Hmph, still… he didn't have to make us a pair of psycho's like that.

Hitoshura: perhaps… but then again, we are the primary antagonists of this fic so I guess it's only natural that he'd do something like that.

Pixie: Wait? We're the antagonists?

Hitoshura: Yep, didn't he ever tell you?

Pixie: He never tells me anything…

Hitoshura: Uh… well, let's start the show already, we've already wasted over a fifth of our allocation.

Pixie: … Fine.

Hitoshura: So… since it came up here, let's give a brief overview of the Amala Network.

Pixie: It's questionable exactly how comprehensive the network is, but it is a massive, multiverse spanning existence that contains practically all knowledge in existence.

Hitoshura: though as we said, it is question if it actually contains all knowledge or whether certain beings exist outside of the network… though if such beings exist, then they are at their very core, Chaotic entities that exist outside of time, space and fate.

Pixie: like you clearly do in the True Demon Ending.

Hitoshura: just because I broke all of them doesn't mean I'm a chaotic entity.

Pixie: …

Hitoshura: oh, fine I am one of those beings, there! Are you happy?

Pixie: it's not good to try and trick yourself like that master.

Hitoshura: and now you call me master… sorry, I was supposed to say that sarcastically but it doesn't exactly get conveyed well in text does it?

Pixie: no it doesn't.

Hitoshura: anyway, I guess there is one last thing to mention about the Amala Network.

Pixie: Do you mean the ludicrous quantities of Magatsuhi that flows through it?

Hitoshura: yeah, there is enough there to allow for the creation of a new world without any noticeable decrease in the levels contained within the network.

Pixie: well it does contain all the knowledge in the multiverse so surely it should contain all the emotions in the multiverse as well.

Hitoshura: true.

Pixie: hey, wait!

Hitoshura: what?

Pixie: I've just noticed, this is the first time we've had more than enough time to talk about what we intended to! And we even wasted quite a bit of our allocation at the start as well!

Hitoshura: and now you're wasting the last bit of it as well.

Pixie: well we don't get to do that under normal circumstances.

Hitoshura: That's because this topic was rather small compared to the rest… probably because of the lack of information we have on the network.

Pixie: true, without the other three games in the main series we have a very limited knowledge base to pull from in this subject.

Hitoshura: and now, we're out of words.

Pixies: see ya later!


	6. Chapter 6

"Well, that's just great," Harry muttered as he took in the sight around him.

The walls were golden and tiled with overlapping squares with their edges facing the different directions, while the floor and roof were black with obvious veins of Magutsuhi flowing along them.

"Hey? Are you alright in there?" he idly noted that Peaseblossom's voice came from practically everywhere and decided to just answer in no direction in particular.

"I guess so… it take it this wasn't supposed to happen?" he hazarded a guess and the noise that greeted him in return made it obvious that his guess was indeed correct.

"Yeah, it seems that the Hitoshura really is planning on keeping you on your toes," the voice of the High Pixie informed him with obvious signs of annoyance.

"So, do you know how I can get out of here?" the dark haired boy asked, hoping that it wasn't a useless endeavour.

"Yeah… all you have to do is find the exit… wait, that's weird," with those words, Harry found himself swallowing nervously, whenever someone said something like that it was usually pretty bad news, "this area has been… redesigned to be invite only?"

The confusion in the fairy's tone was clear to him and he quickly found himself frowning at exactly what that meant.

"What exactly does that mean?" the amber eyed boy asked, ready to sigh at the answer when it finally came.

"That only demons that fulfil set conditions can enter that area of the network," he started to wonder exactly what those conditions were and just how badly they would affect him in his current situation, "and right now, the conditions are set as being you, the Hitoshura, under the command of either of you or around the same strength as you… any one of those conditions will allow a demon access to this place."

Harry thought about those conditions or more specifically, what it meant. His foes would be around about the same strength as him but the Hitoshura could send any of his subordinates to hassle him… it almost made him think of one of those RPG's he had played with Rachael, going through a dungeon filled with enemies levelled to be a challenge but incapable of slaughtering the player while a boss would be waiting at the…

"Peaseblossom… there doesn't happen to be a much stronger enemy near the exit does there?" he asked, inwardly hoping he was just being paranoid.

"… yes there is," her response was enough to let Harry know without a doubt that the Hitoshura had set this section up to act like a video game, there was absolutely no doubt in his mind anymore, "I can't actually read any information about it so either the Hitoshura has overwritten my ability to access that information or…"

"Or what?" he got a bad feeling about her hesitation to tell him exactly what was wrong but he decided it was better to know and be able to prepare than be ignorant and die because he didn't.

"Or it is directly linked to the Fallen One," and with that statement, Harry found himself suddenly feeling a deep seated sense of despair… it wouldn't surprise him if the Hitoshura had actually decided to use something like that as an end of level boss and was as such, really not looking forward to facing it.

"So is there only one exit or can I go around it?" he hoped he could bypass the foe but the next statement made him nearly weep in despair.

"No, there is only one exit on this path… and it has been locked with the condition for opening it being the defeat of the unregistered demon," her voice was nervous, then again she was dealing with the fact that the boy that had made himself a 'friend' of Titania, which meant that if he died, she would probably get a bit of a scolding.

Of course when you were dealing with a being with power on par with gods… a bit of a scolding tended to be far more dangerous than a few words.

"Damn… that's not good," Harry simply decided that it looked like there was really no other way for him to progress unless he played by the Hitoshura's rules, "so can you tell me anything about the enemy at the end? Even if it is only roughly how strong it is?"

"Unfortunately not, my ability to read it is limited to the fact that it is there… you're just going to have to hope that you're strong enough to defeat it," Harry winced at that statement, he didn't like the thought that he was going to have to face this foe with no information on what it was capable of, he'd already found out just how powerful the former human's Pixie was, so just how strong would the rest of his group be?

Then again, from what he understood of the Hitoshura, it was entirely possible that he specifically chose a weaker demon to fight him for entertainments sakes.

"Well then, I guess all we can do is move forward," it was all he could say given the situation and the nods of acceptance he received from his loyal minions was clear as they started to walk through the Amala network.

XXX XXX XXX

It was clear to Harry as they traversed the corridors of the network, that the Hitoshura really didn't want him to have an easy time.

The floating dogs with fire breath, the weird brown blobs with elephant noses and the many other demons that were attacking him proved that much, thankfully though, he was managing to take them down far more efficiently now, mainly due to the fact that he was finally beginning to get in the rhythm of the fights and avoid more of the enemies attacks than before.

The fact that his personal angel could heal their injuries also helped significantly.

"Harry, be careful, you're getting close to the enemy," he heard the call of Peaseblossom through the walls and immediately he began to feel nervous, just beyond the next door was an enemy at a level far beyond what he was used to fighting now and this time, there was no way out.

"Harry… master," the boy turned to face the owner of the voice, the first demon he had ever made a pact with, "I understand you're nervous but whatever you do, please don't force us to abandon you here, remember that we can be revived but you can't."

"I gotta agree with little red there," Moana stated with an unusual air of seriousness in her tone, "if this fight is going to be dangerous then you'll need us to be around for as long as possible, so don't dismiss us."

Harry found himself looking away at their demands, the fact that Elisheva seemed to agree with their sentiment from his quick glance towards her made him feel uncomfortable.

But then again, he was the master and they would have no choice if he decided to ignore their demands.

And so he turned back to the door without answering and opened it, ready to face whatever was left to challenge him.

"Greetings challenger, though this is against my usual duelling preferences, this is the arena that has been determined for our battle," the voice that sounded was powerful, not in a 'possesses a lot of power' kind of way, but the sort that made you want to listen to the person tell an epic tale.

The fact that the person looked like a Grim Reaper wearing a Matadors uniform only made him sound even more epic.

"I am Matador of the Fiend clan and as ordered by The Hitoshura, I shall be your opponent today!" Harry found himself growing tense as the skeletal demon proceeded to raise its sword and Capote into what was clearly a fighting stance, "En Garde!"

Immediately Harry prepared himself to take whatever attack was thrown at him, until he realised that the Fiend was instead shifting the sheet around with increasing speed.

It was clear to him that the enemy would use that sword of his to try and skewer them, it was clearly very sharp after all, which meant that sticking with Wadatsumi would probably be the best option.

"Elisheva, can you try and hit it with Hama?" almost immediately, the white winged angel proceeded to manifest the strange tags around the enemy as a bright light engulfed the foe.

Then the sword shot out from the light and Harry barely had time to jump back as the weapon proceeded to lash out in a nearly invisible flurry of thrusts that managed to strike both Moana and the Angel several times each.

"Moana! Elisheva!" his call was panicked but the fact that the two were left lying on the ground immediately made his mind race… until a soothing light fell upon the blindfolded Divine who started to rise before pointing a hand towards the fallen seductress.

"Dia," and with that word said at an audible volume, the same light engulfed the bat winged woman who like the Angel proceeded to start rising from the floor.

"Agi!" the familiar call of Jiao's made Hary look towards the foe who casually sidestepped the attack that came from behind before stabbing in the same direction the attack had come from… and impaling the small red Jirae upon his blade and flicking her towards the now frozen Harry.

Snapping out of his trance he proceeded to catch the now profusely bleeding girl with butterfly wings as close to his chest as he could, his eyes wide at the sight of the wound she had taken from the slender blade.

"ELISHEVA!" his cry was heard easily by everyone in the area and despite the perfect opportunity, the Matador did not take the chance to attack them while their guards were down.

Harry simply watched on with worry as the healing spell the white winged woman used started to stitch the wound closed, the wound that due to her size, stretch all the way from her sternum to groin.

"My, you certainly are different to the Hitoshura back in his youth," the epic voice called out with obvious amusement in its tone, "he never reacted so strongly to his underlings being debilitated unless they had an ability that assisted in achieving victory."

Harry found himself glaring at the skull headed demon that had hurt his closest friend so severely, certainly most people thought that Rachael was his closest friend but only Jiao knew everything about him.

And despite Elisheva's healing, she was still wounded and the enemy was just standing there, his stance no longer ready but instead casual.

Even when Moana proceeded to attack him from behind he simply stepped to the side and unleashed a leisurely slash that easily cleaved the winged demon's chest open.

The ten year old found his anger growing, his blood began to sing in his veins in the hope of exacting vengeance on the monster that dared harm his friends, for that was what they were in his head, they were his friends and under his protection.

Without any further thought, he unleashed his most powerful attack against the enemy, a wide area blast of freezing cold wind, a weapon capable of flash freezing nearly everything he had used it on.

So it came as a surprise for him when the enemy managed to effortlessly avoid the attack that should've been too widespread for such action to occur.

"What?" it was all he could say in response to the ease with which the Spanish Swordskeleton moved before shaking his head clear once again and preparing himself to use another ice breath attack.

"Dia," and once again, the leather bound guardian proceeded to cast healing magic on her natural enemy so she didn't bleed out.

Harry didn't let that bother him however as he unleashed his breath upon the bullfighter once again, receiving the exact same outcome in response and causing him to grit his teeth in frustration at his apparent inability to hit the skeleton.

Which in turn made the foes lack of effort even more frustrating, that it was so far beyond his group that it was still far beyond their limits that it could toy with all four of them and even considered them weak enough to give them a chance to recover instead of finish them off as quickly as possible.

"Dammit," it was all he could find in himself to say, the foe was just too agile and his attacks were precise and capable of striking through them with barely any effort.

Just how did the Hitoshura expect him to get past a foe like this?

"We…" he looked towards the Jirae in his hands as she started to talk, "we were too reckless… we should've trained more be… before coming here."

She was right, he had been so concerned about getting home that he hadn't even thought about getting stronger, the increase in his strength now was attained purely from facing the foes that had sought him out… and now they were paying for it.

He bit his lip at that, despite being wounded it was clear that Jiao was working to try and get back up and into the fight. But it was his fault the fight was this one sided, it was his fault for being hasty and for that reason, he decided that if anyone had to suffer for this, it would not be his underlings.

"Elisheva, come here," he spoke with determination in his tone and it didn't take long for the white winged angel to arrive, "look after Jiao… I'm going to deal with this guy."

"What? Harry, he's too powerful, we have to get out of here!" the wound clearly wasn't enough to stop her from stating the obvious and pointing out just how foolish his course of action was.

"Door is locked," the blindfolded divine stated with her usual bluntness, earning a flinch from the red skinned spirit.

"Jiao… I got us into this situation, it's my duty to get you out of it," his mind was clear on what he had to do but at the same time, he knew that the chances of success were slim at best.

"Master, I have run out of power to cast spells," Harry found himself internally wincing at the fact that any more hits from the skeletal menace could be the end of everything.

"Then I guess I've only got one shot at this," he muttered more to himself than anyone else.

And then he charged, taking a deep breath as he did so.

"Do you truly believe charging at me will make a difference niño?" the Spanish Grim Reaper stated in a condescending tone before speeding forward with a powerful thrust that pierced straight through the messy haired boys lung.

The green eyed child bit back a scream of pain and ignored the cries of his closest comrade as he grabbed his enemy by the wrist and unleashed the storm that had been brewing in his lungs upon the bullfighter.

For the first time since the start of the battle, he had managed to hit the enemy but he didn't let that distract him, it was unlikely that the foe would be taken out with a single strike like that and so he cocked his fist back and proceeded to lash out at the swordsman.

"Rakunda!" his mind registered his Lilim's voice and the light that seeped into the foe just before his fist struck home against the enemy's skull, resulting in a resounding crack that immediately made him wonder if it was over.

"Mazan," and with that one word, Harry found himself desperately holding on to the foe for his life as a massive force struck his chest dead centre as the skull like head of the Fiend turned to face him once more, "Mazan."

And once again Harry found himself nearly losing consciousness as a similar force struck him again… he idly noted that his normally blue tattoos were now glowing red as he tried to cling to life and lash out at the foe again.

His swing missed, the enemy tilting his head just enough to dodge the strike aimed at it as his mouth opened to once more say that word that would definitely kill him.

Only to fail upon a feminine fist colliding with its jaw.

"Agi!" and the foe was soon struck by a familiar fireball as the rest of his group finally started to tear into the now stationary foe with everything they had.

No longer capable of focusing due to the sudden onslaught, Harry found that he could hit the deadly foe once again and found relief flooding his veins as the skull that had stood up to so much punishment finally shattered under his fist.

"How, humiliating," and with those last words, the Grim Reaper proceeded to dissolve into motes of energy that flowed into the demonic boy and his comrades.

The battle was finally over and with the sword impaling his lung no longer supporting him, the young wizard fell face first towards the ground.

He idly wondered why his landing was soft and why he could feel the magatama wriggling like mad within him, beyond that, he knew that people were speaking around him but that was all he could make out as he slowly began to drift past unconsciousness, his body ready to eject his soul and send him to the man in the sky.

And then the Magatama stopped squirming and a warmth flooded his body erasing the aches and pains that had come with impaling himself on the foes weapon and allowing him to make out the voices around him.

"What is that light?"

"I do not know."

"Not a clue here either."

"Dammit Angel! Can't you at least do something?" wait, was that Hua Po's… no, Jiao's voice?

"I do not have the power left to help him," then that would be Angel's… Elisheva's voice wouldn't it?

He opened his eyes and was greeted by a sight that made him blink a few times.

"Uh… Moana… why am I laying on your lap?" it was the only thing he could find it in himself to say upon seeing the small mounds that erupted from the sex demon's chest.

"HARRY!" he found himself immediately being assaulted by the tiny red girl who despite her sudden vigour was clearly still suffering from her earlier wound, "don't you ever scare me like that again you insensitive jerk!"

"Oh, what's that?" Harry found himself unable to respond as his dark haired underling made her statement, "aren't you a little small for him?" the ten year old found himself dreading the thought of where the temptress's teasing was going, "don't worry though, I'll be sure to more than make up for your… inability to satisfy him."

"Shut up Lilim!" the way the little red skinned demon snapped at the significantly taller woman made it clear that she was definitely not in the mood for the bat winged demons innuendo.

"I concur with Hua Po, your statements are unnecessary and unacceptable," Harry just knew things would escalate if he didn't do something but he just didn't know what to do right now.

"A….ght?" he shook his head as a voice began to sound from everywhere and nowhere, "can… here me?"

"What?" he took a few seconds to try and place the voice and where he had heard it before, "Peaseblossom?"

"Finally! When you entered that area my connection was severed and I've been trying to contact you ever since," she called out from everywhere, "are you alright?"

Harry looked at himself and focused on how he felt and answered the only way he could, "… yeah, I think so, though Jiao probably needs some more healing."

"And what about you? You took more damage than the rest of us," the tiny red girl asked with a glare.

"I don't know, honestly, I feel better than ever," his statement earning a narrowing of eyes from the others, "I think the magatama healed me when we finally won."

"I can't say anything about the accuracy of what you're saying," the disembodied voice called out, "the magatama aren't exactly a well known phenomenon, in order to get any real information on them you'd have to go to either the Hitoshura or Lucifer himself."

Harry found himself once again grimacing at that information.

"Well, I guess all we can do right now is leave here and try and find somewhere to heal Jiao," he admitted as he stood, his first demon companion still held against his chest with a single hand as the two human sized minions readied themselves to exit the network, "so let's go."

And with that, they proceeded to walk towards the exit that had appeared upon their defeat of the Matador.

XXX XXX XXX

Harry was definitely happy to see that they appeared to have arrived at the intended destination, however there was a still the problem of healing the tree spirit that had been with him for over a year.

"Alright, now we need to find somewhere to heal you," he muttered to the small fairy like demon still held in his hand.

"The junk shop should work just fine," his attention was caught when the dark haired seductress mentioned such an unusual place of healing, "it should sell medicine to heal injuries so buying some of that should be more than enough to finish the job the Angel started."

"Does medicine really work that way?" he remembered the way medicine back at the Dursley's tended to take hours to work and usually needed to be taken every four hours or so.

"Demon medicine does," the voice that called from his hand still sounded rather weak but the way she smiled up at him made him wonder what she was thinking, "but don't waste it on me, just give me a few hours sleep and I should be good as new… same as everyone else."

"Jiao, even if you say that… I don't think the Dursley's would appreciate you bleeding all over their carpet," he joked lightly, deciding to ignore the fact that she had stopped bleeding a little while ago.

"So true," the fact she decided to just give in to his joke made him smile because it meant one thing… she had accepted that he would heal her no matter what she said.

He idly noticed the confused expression that crossed the face of the demon that was for all intensive purposes a succubus and realised that neither she nor Elisheva would have a clue what he and his first partner were talking about.

And no longer surrounded by the presence of visible quantities of Magatsuhi on every side, he found himself once more having to fight down a blush at her mere presence.

"Uh... Moana, do you know why I wasn't affected by your aura in the network?" he decided to ask, wondering exactly why that was.

"Because it couldn't penetrate all the ambient Magatsuhi," she admitted with a shrug, earning a nod of acceptance from the dark haired boy before he started to walk through the river that was probably once a sewer to reach the junk shop that he had been aiming for since he had been dragged back into this world.

He was just grateful that the former sewer wasn't anywhere near as bad as he would've expected it to be.

Despite the apparent peacefulness of the place, he knew they could still be attacked at any moment and even more importantly, that that dammed Pixie could still be there to teleport them anywhere else again, so he didn't even try to stop his eyes from darting all over the place.

Finally reaching the entrance to the junk shop, Harry refused to let his nerves relax as he opened the door.

And then he blinked.

"Hey there hot stuff, I've got fabulous items for sale," the voice was what his uncle would call gay, though he was pretty certain that the more politically correct term would be camp, however that didn't change the fact that the owner was… strange.

He looked human… if you ignored the random twitching, the unnatural smoothness of his skin and the way his hair seemed more like the bristles of a paint brush.

"Uh, first, do you sell medicine?" he wasn't sure what to ask of the strange man that just seemed… too off to be human and too human to be anything else.

"Of course, it is one hundred macca a bottle, how many would you like?" the smile the strange shopkeeper gave him made him twitch nervously as he thought over how many he would need.

"Uh, can I get one right now?" he asked nervously as he got one hundred macca out for the drug.

"Of course, of course, that's be one hundred macca," Harry felt like pointing out how redundant it was to tell him how much it would be when he'd just said so less than a minute earlier but decided against it and instead just handed the money over and received the bottle of unidentified medicine in exchange.

Immediately he opened the bottle and proceeded to give it to the demon in his hand and marvelled at just how quickly the wound was closing upon drinking the strange liquid.

"Wow, that was pretty quick," he admitted after a couple of blinks of surprise.

"Yeah, demon healing tends to be much faster than human healing," he found himself smiling as he noted how the butterfly winged girl sounded significantly stronger than she had just a minute ago, though she staying in his hand.

"I guess you're right, anyway, mister shopkeeper," he admitted before facing the strange guy again, "do you have any magatama in stock?" he asked while worrying his lower lip, he doubted Shiranui wouldn't be there courtesy of how that damned Pixie had been there to stop him from entering the store last time, but that didn't mean he had enough money for it.

"Ah, you mean the strange worm thingy's," Harry found himself beginning to get excited, "yes, I have two… though it was funny how the Hitoshura gave them to me to sell again."

Harry found his teeth grinding at that statement and how the shopkeeper seemed to talk about the Hitoshura in an almost fond manner.

"So let's see here," and with that the unnatural man pulled out a couple of magatama, making the messy haired pseudodemon swallow, "this one is Ankh and costs two thousand macca and this is Shiranui and costs three thousand macca."

Harry blinked in surprise, he was pretty sure he had someone in the region of six thousand macca left after buying the medicine for Jiao and he had also been expecting to only find one magatama and to have some trouble affording it at least.

"Uh, then could I buy both of them?" he asked nervously as he got his money out, "and buy however much medicine the rest of this can get me?"

"Of course, of course," and with that said, the boy found himself exchanging the money for the worm like creatures and eleven bottles of medicine, "here is your change and here is a lucky ticket for you."

Harry could do little more than blink in surprise at the strange ticket that was handed to him.

"If you collect ten of them then you can win a fabulous prize," the boy found himself wondering what the so called prize would be but decided to shake his head clear, he had other things to worry about.

"Thanks and goodbye," and with that, he proceeded to store his purchases in his extra-dimensional storage space and leave the enclosed environment.

Once more away from the unusual being, Harry wondered exactly how he was going to return home when a mocking clap sounded to his right.

"Well, that was reasonably entertaining," he wasn't surprised upon seeing the tattooed agent of chaos walking towards him with a casual air about him, "though, your fight against Matador was embarrassing, if I hadn't ordered him to go easy on you then you would've died long before you could trap him."

Harry's eyes widened at that statement, the thought that the skeletal Grim Reaper that had nearly killed his group had been ordered to go easy on him simply didn't sit right with him even if he understood that it was clearly the only thing that had saved their lives.

And even then, it had been a close call.

So Harry just settled with glaring at the older being with as much hate as he could muster.

"Well, I guess you've completed my game for now, so I suppose I should send you back," the non-committal shrug was followed with a simple wave of his hand, causing Harry to feel what was quickly becoming a familiar sense of vertigo, "I'll be seeing you sooner or later and next time, I expect a better show."

And with that, Harry found himself and his comrades relocated to his bedroom back in his own world.

"Huh?" he idly noted the confused look on Moana's face as she looked around the room, "is this a human world?"

"Yeah, now if you don't mind, I think I'm going to have a bath… I really don't want to spend any more time covered in blood and sewage," and with that, Harry proceeded to leave his bed room to the two human sized flyers as his red skinned companion flew with him.

"Oh, can I join? Ow," he just knew that Elisheva had just ensured his chastity wouldn't be taken any time soon.

It was good to finally be safe once again.

 **XXX The Hitoshura & Pixie Show XXX**

Pixe: Well, that was pretty disappointing wasn't it.

Hitoshura: by the authors standards, yes.

Pixie: Then again, the MC here hasn't been doing any grinding so it is kinda understandable that he'd be so out of his league.

Hitoshura: I guess but it was a pretty short scene.

Pixie: Yeah, way too short to be a decent fight scene, then again this author does tend to suck at them doesn't he?

Hitoshura: you do realise that we're just voicing his own feelings of inadequacy when compared to certain other authors who can make a fight scene that lasts nearly the length of an entire novel and still make it feel epic instead of tedious.

Pixie: Well, I guess there is that as well, but I doubt others would disagree.

Hitoshura: you mean like how they disagreed concerning Born By Will?

Pixie: that was an anomaly.

Hitoshura: or it is possible that the author just has high standards he feels he fails to reach.

Pixie: maybe, anyway, we've really gotten off topic here.

Hitoshura: point.

Pixie: anyway, since the author hasn't done this for awhile, he's decided that it might be an idea to change the format of the show.

Hitoshura: from now on, he will have us explain things about SMT based on what people ask about in reviews.

Pixie: so we're probably getting our screen time cut.

Hitoshura: well, at least he remembered, he had actually uploaded the actual chapter before remembering the fact he hadn't done this section at all.

Pixie: yeah… well, since there isn't really anything else to say today, it's time to end it here.

Hitoshura: hopefully we'll be back next chapter so until then, see ya.

Pixie: bye bye every one!


	7. Chapter 7

**A MALICIOUS SAVIOUR**

Rachael Jones always knew she wasn't like the other children.

Whenever she opened her mouth everyone would always mock her.

Girls mocked her because she liked things girls weren't supposed to like and boys mocked her because she was a girl.

But she just didn't like things like Barbie or doll houses, she liked action.

She liked video games, comic books, those movies her parents said she was too young to watch, Transformers, Thunder Cats, He Man and any other cartoon she could find like them.

It just wasn't fair that she was expected to like pink things and that the other children that liked what she did refused to talk to her because she was a girl.

She used to cry about it when she was younger but she had grown used to it for the most part… she had tried to change herself but she just found she couldn't force herself to like the 'girly' things that she was expected to.

However that didn't change the fact that she was forced to eat alone in the playground.

So here she was, sitting on a step with no one to talk to, spending her lunch break reading the latest issue of Green Lantern Corps, issue number 223, when she noticed a group walk towards her.

"Well would you look at that," their leader said, she remembered him from a few other times she had been tormented by him. He was a chubby boy with blond hair that went by the name of Big D.

Of course she knew it wasn't his actual name but that was what his little group of thugs always called him so she didn't know who he really was.

The problem though, was that this particular group could get a little nastier than any of the others who just tended to ignore her.

"It's the weirdo," one of the other kids, a smaller boy with a face like a rat (not that he was particularly small, just smaller than the other members of the gang), "pretending to be a boy again?"

She didn't get a chance to respond as one of the other members grabbed her comic and nearly ripped it jerking it out of her hands.

"Hey would you look at this," he pointed out, laughing as he did so, "she's reading a loser comic."

"Give that back!" she shouted, hoping they would give up this time but the grins they gave made it clear that doing so only egged them on.

"Oh, would you look at that, getting angry over a stupid comic," the leader said with an obvious tone of mockery, "maybe you should rip it up M."

The boy was clearly about to do it when everything changed as a hand appeared on the boy's shoulder.

"Well, well, what do you have there Malcolm?" the voice that spoke up was clearly talking down to the large boy but that wasn't what struck her.

It was the gangs eyes and how they seemed to widen in fear at the voice that really caught her attention.

"Oh, a comic? I thought you hated them Malcolm, so if you're just going to destroy it then why don't you hand it over to me," the boy that owned the hand and voice walked out from behind the bully, surprising her as she noted how much smaller than them he was.

He had shaggy black hair, a lithe figure and amber eyes that conveyed one simple fact to her.

He wanted to hurt someone.

"H-here you go," the way the boy she now knew was called Malcolm stuttered out his response before handing the comic over to the much smaller boy as the rest of the group stood there frozen in obvious fear of this newcomer.

She wanted to ask for her comic back but found herself unable to do so as she watched the amber eyed child smile a terrifying smile and squeeze.

"Aahh!" she jumped as the bigger boy collapsed to the ground and clutched his shoulder in obvious pain.

"Now now, surely a big, tough kid like you could handle a little squeeze… after all, it's not like I broke your shoulder again," the way the boy said it was clearly mocking, the way the rest of the gang did nothing to help their comrade was also telling.

Then her mind ground to a halt.

He had said again.

That meant he had already broken Malcolm's shoulder once before.

She suddenly found her fear towards this stranger growing ever greater.

"No who is this?" the boy turned towards her, clearly deciding to point her out and she found herself wishing he had just continued to ignore her, "is this your comic?"

She nodded her head once since she didn't trust her mouth to say the right thing.

"Tch, tch, tch," the way the boy clicked his tongue in a condescending manner only made her try and shrink herself down as much as she could, "Dudley, Piers, Malcolm, Gordon, Dennis... what have I said about bullying?"

And with that, the five boys bolted as fast as they could away from him before he called out, "I'll get you later!" his twisted smile still on his face before turning to her, making her press herself further up against the wall in hopes of avoiding whatever he was going to do to her.

"Here you go," and blinked in surprise as he held out her comic with an amused smile on his face.

"Huh?" it was all she could manage to let out of her mouth as she noted how the comic was right there for the taking.

"Your comic," he still seemed amused and all trace of the previous malice was gone from his eyes, those warm, kind, amber eyes.

She briefly wondered if he had a split personality before shaking her head clear and accepting her comic back.

"Thank you," she muttered quietly, earning a grin off the boy.

"Not a problem, I'm always looking for an excuse to mess with those five," he admitted casually, making her blink in surprise.

"Why?" it was clear to her that those five had some history with the black haired boy that was currently talking with her.

"They used to bully me so I decided to turn the tables on them," he admitted with a shrug.

"You were really scary then," Rachael didn't know why she decided to admit that but in the end she did and his wry grin made her nearly laugh.

"That's good, it means they'll keep giving me those terrified faces whenever I say hi," his grin only seemed to make his eyes shine with a hint of amusement and she found herself coming to a conclusion.

This boy was like a cross between the Joker and Batman.

"So, what's the comic?" her mind blanched at that question before noting that he sounded curious as opposed to mocking, so she decided to answer him.

"Green Lantern Corps two twenty three," the curious look that appeared on his face at that declaration was enough to let her know that he wanted to know, "are you doing anything now?"

"Not really, names Harry by the way," she could do little more than smile at the fact that for the first time ever, someone was prepared to sit down and share in her interests.

"Rachael," and with that, the boy sat down and she spent the rest of lunch telling him all about her comics.

 **THE FAIRY SEX**

Hua Po could do little more than stare at Harry as he sat in the bath with a confused stare levelled at her groin.

Though his question of where her 'dinky' was was a bit disconcerting.

"Uh, I don't have one," she stated as if it was obvious, which she believed it was.

"But, how do you pee?" she could do little more than continue to stare at him in disbelief.

"The same way every girl does," she stated bluntly, making him blink in what was clearly confusion.

"But how can you pee without a dinky?" she really didn't understand why he was so obsessed about it, seriously, how was he ever planning on having sex if…

Oh…

Oh…

"You don't know about sex do you?" she asked, earning a tilting of his head in response.

"Well, I've heard about it but me and Rachael have no idea what it is," he admitted, earning a confused couple of blinks from her.

"Rachael?" she inquired, earning a shrug in response.

"She's my friend," he admitted casually.

"Your friend… and she's a girl," she decided to confirm, earning a nod of acknowledgement from the child, "and you have no idea what sex is?"

The way Harry shook his head in the negative made her nearly weep.

She was going to have to teach him about sex.

She hated teaching.

And she hated sex.

Then again, there were very few times a male would be small enough to insert themselves into her without killing her in the process that it was pretty standard for a demon like her to be scared of the subject.

But he was her master and she would do what she could to assist him in everything necessary.

"Alright… I guess I'll have to teach you about it then," she said after steeling herself for the troubles that were sure to come.

"Really?" she found herself once again cringing at the fact that he was asking for confirmation.

"Yes," the face splitting grin that adorned him nearly made her smile, the fact that he was so eager to learn under her was… heartening, to say the least.

"Alright, first things first," she prepared herself for what she was about to say, "your… 'dinky' as you call it is very important for sex."

"Why?" she found herself already wondering if it would be better to simply give up and let someone else teach him before deciding to press on.

"Well…" she tried to think of appropriate words to use to explain it to the young child, "when it gets hard it is meant to be put into a girl."

"Put into a girl?" the confusion in his tone was clear to her so she proceeded to attempt to further explain it.

"Yes… girls don't have 'dinkeys' but something that 'dinkeys' go into," she stated seriously, earning a look at her groin in response.

"Do you have one of these things dinkeys go into?" she almost found herself flushing at his question but answered anyway.

"Yes," her answer was firm and said with an air of finality as she crossed her arms slightly defensively.

"Can I see it?" his question made her stall. He was asking that she put herself in a position where he could _stare_ at her… honey pot, yes, that was what she would be calling it for now.

She thought about denying him, really thought about it, the thought of having her vagina stared at by a curious child was not appealing to her… but he was her master, she had sold her soul to him and it was his right to make her do anything he wanted, he could even make her rip her own wings off and eat them if he wanted to courtesy of the strength of the bond.

"O-of course master," she managed to force out of her mouth as she lifted herself out of the warm water with her wings before landing in his raised hand.

It took her several seconds but eventually she managed to push down her embarrassment and open her legs for him to stare between.

It was only when she felt something touch her second pair of lips that she opened her eyes and looked at him.

His face was an expression of confusion and he was clearly examining her womanly parts with the pinky of the hand she wasn't sat on.

"So why does a dinky go in there?" his question cut through her embarrassment as she remembered why he was looking in the first place.

"Well… when it's hard a dinky will… eject a seed that will grow into a baby in a woman's honey pot," she decided that would work, while it may not be completely accurate, it was close enough to work.

Given the way the boy looked down at his groin with a hint of fear in his eyes, it was clear that his mind had gone somewhere she didn't understand.

"What's wrong?" the way he looked back at her made her wonder if she had explained things the wrong way to make him understand exactly what sex was.

"A seed comes out of my dinky?" the fear in his tone wasn't lost on her, but she nodded in response, "..does it hurt?"

"What?" she finally figured out what made him so scared, "alright, maybe I explained it wrong… it isn't that a seed pops out of it, it's more a case of you… watering… a seed that is already inside a girl… though the 'water' required is a bit stickier than pee."

"Wait, women have seeds inside them?" he looked taken aback by that explanation before he asked something that made her headache grow, "so girls are plants?"

"Occasionally you get things like Alraune but for the most part, no, girls aren't plants," she stated clearly.

"But then why do girls have seeds in them?"

"All female animals have seeds in them, it is how babies are born," she tried to explain earning another widening of the boy's eyes.

"Wait, so if these seeds are what makes babies, can only watered by my dinky, and I can only water them through sex… then does that mean sex is what makes babies?" he tried to clarify, earning a nod off her, "then why didn't you just say so?"

At that question, Hua Po felt herself internally groaning when she realised just how much information he had been after in the beginning.

This whole explanation had been a complete waste of time.


	8. Chapter 8

Harry had to admit, Dudley's Smeltings uniform looked about as stupid as the boy himself and that was saying something given how the boy looked like he couldn't out think a rock.

But that wasn't what was getting on his nerves.

It was the way the idiot was hitting everything he could (outside of Harry that is) with the damn stick that came with it.

"Dudley, quit it or I'm burning that dammed stick," he snapped out, making the significantly pudgier boy jerk in surprise before shivering and putting his stick in a corner and out of his reach.

The fact that neither his Aunt or Uncle was prepared to risk his ire anymore only made the situation easier.

Before he had come back from his previous stint in the vortex world, Harry had always had to hold back when dealing with his relatives, they were just squishy humans after all… and then he had gotten access to Dia.

Now he didn't have to worry about breaking their bodies as they could just be fixed up with a single spell and they would have no proof that he was harming them… of course that had only happened once when Uncle Vernon had finally had enough of laying down for him and decided to try and regain control with the threat of getting the police after him if he did anything.

Harry would happily admit that breaking every bone in the man's hands five times over was rather therapeutic.

Though it didn't match Shiranui and the effects it had on him.

He still remembered the first thought to pop into his head concerning the fire based magatama 'I'm just like a dragon!'.

That was before the novelty of having the ability to breath fire wore off.

Now he was just left with the simple point of having to wait for his Hogwarts acceptance letter.

Rachael hadn't been happy about him going to a boarding school in Scotland and leaving her to deal with homework alone.

He idly smiled at the thought that they _still_ hadn't finished Ghosts 'n Goblins.

His ears easily picked up the sound of the mail arriving and just like the rest of the past few days, Harry proceeded to go and retrieve it without prompting, both expecting to see the letter addressed to him and expecting the mail to be nothing but bills like it usually was.

He was grateful that it was there this time.

The envelope was a yellowish parchment with the address written in cursive with emerald green ink and he found himself letting out a wry grin at the address.

 _Mr H. Potter_

 _The Smallest Bedroom_

 _4 Privet Drive_

 _Little Whinging_

 _Surrey_

He would've thought that it was a sign of being watched closely, of being spied upon but the magic he could feel imbedded into the envelope told him the truth, it was simply charmed to give the most accurate address possible.

He also loved the fact they had completely forgotten about the Postcode or stamp so any attempts at making it look like a normal letter would fail spectacularly.

He didn't bother doing much as he opened the letter and made his way to the table where he dropped the rest of the mail next to his uncle.

 _HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY_

 _Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore_

 _(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)_

 _Dear Mr Potter,_

 _We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment._

 _Term Begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July._

 _Yours sincerely,_

 _Minerva McGonagall_

 _Deputy Headmistress_

Harry easily noted how his relatives seemed to be focused on the fact he had a letter and he ended up saying the only thing that came to mind right then.

"Crap," he didn't have an owl.

XXX XXX XXX

The next few days were a slog for the boy as he neared his eleventh birthday.

All he could really do was sit around and wait for a member of the Hogwarts staff to arrive, apparently that was what had happened with his mother (according to his aunt but then again, he questioned her reliability).

So he spent most of his time either hanging out in his bedroom with his minions or inviting Rachael over to commandeer his cousins Sega Megadrive (he was apparently going to be getting a SNES as soon as it was released in less than a month's time despite the fact he wouldn't be capable of playing it for long due to going to Smeltings).

It was on his birthday that it finally happened.

A loud banging sounded off the front door, making the Dursley's jump in shock but merely making Harry raise an eyebrow at the fact someone clearly didn't know how to use the doorbell.

"I suppose I'll go and get the door," he wasn't exactly thrilled at the thought of dealing with the person that decided hammering on the door like an Oni would be a good idea but honestly, he wouldn't have a problem throwing whatever drunk it was away.

So when he opened it to see a giant of a man with a rough beard, a scraggy jacket and small, beetle like eyes, he was left staring blankly at the figure as he wondered if he would be capable of throwing the man away if he got rowdy.

"Hello there, it's been a long time since I last saw ya," the jovial tone the man spoke with and the familiarity with which he spoke to the boy that was now eleven years old.

"Uh... I think you've got the wrong house," he decided to try the diplomatic route before throwing the man away.

"Nah, you're Harry, ya look just like yer father… though ya had yer mother's eyes last time I saw ya," the scruffy looking man said with the same type of familiarity that he had with his first statement.

"I got coloured contacts… and you are?" he decided to dig for information on who this person was since he was drawing a blank right now.

"Ah, sorry 'bout that, name's Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper O' The Keys at Hogwarts," his introduction made Harry blink in surprise, he had been expecting someone who looked more professional than this man.

"Why didn't you just say that first you lumbering oaf," he asked, his tone slightly annoyed but little more than that, "you know what, just come in, I've been waiting for someone to pop over ever since I got that bloody letter."

The look on Hagrid's face was rather amusing as far as Harry was concerned, the man had probably never expected to be spoken to in such a manner.

But the man accepted the invitation without any preamble.

"So, how's life been treatin ya Harry?" the Fomor sized man asked, earning a shrug off the boy.

"Oh, you know, outside of being transported to another world to participate in death games… pretty good actually," he admitted casually, earning a couple of blinks from the groundkeeper before a large grin split the man's face.

"Jus' like yer father," the large man said merrily, "he was a right prankster too ya know."

And with that said, the giant of a man walked towards the living room.

"I wasn't joking," Harry found himself muttering under his breath.

"Dursley! Can aye get a cup 'o tea!" the shaggy man yelled at a volume that probably woke the local graveyard and made the scarred boy grin slightly in response.

"Wha? Who are you?!" the amber eyed boy found himself internally laughing at the thought of what the whale of a man would be doing now that he was coming face to face with such a massive man with such a burly accent.

"He's here on Hogwarts business!" Harry decided to call out as he made his way towards the dining room, not that he needed to eat, Rachael's mother had forced a full sized meal of bangers, mash, peas, carrots and roast potatoes down his throat just the previous day.

Why couldn't that woman see that he was perfectly healthy without eating?

The silence that followed his declaration would have been deafening if it wasn't for the giant of a man making enough noise to account for everyone else.

"So Harry, why didn't ya respond to yer letters?" Hagrid asked, earning a shrug off the boy.

"Because I don't have an owl," he supplied with a blank expression.

"Ah, forgot about that," he shaggy faced man stated sheepishly, "so are yer ready ta go ta Hogwarts?"

"Yeah, I've been waiting for this day for nearly two years," he admitted, earning a light pat on his back for that answer… well, it would probably knock a normal human to the floor but it was light as far as he was concerned.

"That's good ta hear," the man definitely seemed happy at the fact that he was clearly eager to go to a magic school, then again, given the Dursley's and their stance on magic, it probably was a surprise, "so have ya had anything ta eat yet?"

Harry briefly considered telling the man the truth but decided it would probably be easier to simply lie.

"Yes," he fully expected the man to waste time if he admitted that he hadn't eaten anything that morning and was glad when the man didn't press any further.

"Ah, almost forgot," Harry found himself curious as to what the man was talking about, "sorry if it's a little squished, mighta sat on it at some point."

The demonic boy for his part simply found his mind going blank at the sight of the small box that was quickly handed to him.

He quirked his eyebrows at that, this man really must have been close to his parents if he was giving him something. So he decided to open it up and was greeted by the sight of a sticky chocolate cake with emerald green icing that read 'Happy Birthday Harry'.

He blinked at it a couple of times, clearly the man wouldn't know that he didn't really eat and even more importantly, that he wasn't a fan of sweet products.

"Ah, you can keep it," he decided to say, earning a look off the man that he was certain meant his words had hurt him, "sorry but I'm not hungry and I've never been a fan of sweet things."

It was true, he had never gotten to try sweet things before his transformation and he was pretty sure that had affected his taste buds since he much preferred meat… according to Jiao it was because of the small traces of Magatsuhi that was left in it but that wasn't really important.

The only 'food' he actually liked was Magatsuhi.

Sure that didn't mean he couldn't stand other things, like the meal he had been forced to have the previous day, but he never found any food he liked more than those few tastes of Magatsuhi he had gotten in the vortex world.

"How can ya not like sweet things?" the question was asked as if it was a completely unnatural occurrence for a child to not like sweets… which was generally true so he could be forgiven for that belief.

"Because I don't," the dark haired boy for his part simply stated the bluntest fact he could, it wasn't as if he chose to dislike sweet things, he just did.

And it unsurprisingly threw the man for a loop, though it became clear that the sadness in his eyes wasn't going anywhere.

"Look, I don't like sweet things and I'm not hungry… but that doesn't mean I'm not grateful for the thought behind it," he said with a lopsided grin, "after all, it is more than the Dursley's give me on my birthday."

That seemed to snap the large man out of his slump… and set him loose on the family of three.

Harry for his part simply zoned out as the giant of a man chewed out his relatives for not giving him anything for his birthday, the fact was that the boy didn't really care that they didn't, he felt no attachment to them so he didn't care what they thought of him.

Honestly, out of everyone he knew, there were only eight that he felt any attachment to at all.

Jiao, Elisheva, Moana, Rachael, Titania, Peaseblossom, Hitoshura and his Pixie… and those last two were an attachment of hatred and fear.

The fact that only one of them was human and only one of them was male didn't escape him.

"So Harry, are ya ready to go, we got lots ta do today," the bearded man finally said, snapping the boy out of his internal musings.

"Yeah, sure," and without any further fanfare, the dark haired eleven year old simply stood and proceeded to follow the giant of a man out of the house and towards wherever he was going to be buying his stuff for school.

XXX XXX XXX

Harry had to admit that the entrance to the wizarding world was impressively unimpressive.

It was a tacky looking pub that barely took up any room and had a sign reading 'The Leaky Cauldron' hanging just above the door.

"I guess normal people can't see it," he asked as he noted how no one else on the street was even glancing at the dingy little pub.

"That's right, muggles can't see it because o' the wards protecting it, now come on," and with that said, the man proceeded to drag the boy into the watering hole.

The inside wasn't much better than the exterior as Harry found himself greeted by a dark and shabby little place, clearly not meant to hold that many people but Harry didn't really care… it was just an entrance to the magical shopping district after all.

"The usual Hagrid?" the barkeeper called out, not that Harry really cared, the man wasn't exactly impressive in any way Harry could see.

"Can't Tom, I'm on Hogwarts business," the giant of a man responded while clapping the boy on the shoulder… not that Harry paid much attention to it.

"Wow… I've seen sewers brighter than this place," the scarred boy said with a wry grin as he remembered the great underpass of Ginza and how it was brighter (and cleaner) than this small pub.

Honestly the fact that it was grubbier than a post-apocalyptic sewer was actually rather impressive.

"Harry! That's no way ta talk about the most famous pub in Wizarding Britain," Harry found himself giving Hagrid a blank look at that statement, if this was the most famous pub in wizarding Britain then he hated to think about what the less reputable ones would be like.

"Harry… you don't mean…" the old barkeeper started as he stared at his face while apparently forgetting the insult his pub had just received, "Harry Potter, you've finally returned to us."

It was as if the entire England football team had just entered the building as everyone that had previously been mulling about doing their own business suddenly swarmed him.

He could do little more than stare blankly at the fact that everyone seemed to consider him some sort of hero figure.

"Uh, big guy, what in Amala is going on here?" he decided to ask, he idly wondered just how much his three subordinates had corrupted him if he was swearing by Amala now.

That seemed to earned several looks of confusion from the people that had been swarming him.

"What do ya mean Harry?" Hagrid asked with confusion clear in his tone.

"Why are these people swarming me like this? Are they paedophiles or something?" he asked with a raised eyebrow earning several gasps and causing most of the people to take a step back.

"What?! No! Didn't yer aunt and uncle tell ya anything?" the man with an impressive beard asked in shock and with a hint of anger in his tone.

"That my parents were from a secret society of magic users… and just getting that much out of them required threats," he admitted with a shrug before noticing how everyone seemed to be looking far less star struck then and almost looked like they were re-evaluating their opinions of him.

"Threats?! What do ya mean threats?!" the tall man yelled in shock, earning another shrug off him.

"I mean threatening to break bits of the house, I got pretty good at that when I was younger," he admitted casually, noting how the man seemed to sag in relief.

"For a second there I thought ya were talking about hurting them," the fact that Harry was more than prepared to actually break them now that he could fix them up remained unsaid.

"So… what's the deal with all these guys suddenly deciding seeing me is more important than getting drunk?" he decided to ask, once again distracting them from the fact he had to threaten his family in order to find out what was probably the most basic fact about his parents.

"That can wait, got lots ta do today," the beady eyed giant of a man said, earning a blank stare off the boy, "now come on, out the back."

Harry suddenly wished he was heavier because regardless of his strength, it didn't help him grip the ground and stop the man from practically lifting him out of the bar and into a dingy little courtyard with nothing but a single dustbin and some weeds.

He didn't bother listening to what the man muttered to himself as he pulled out a little pink umbrella and then decided to get his attention.

"Alright Harry, remember this fer when ya get yer wand," the man said, making the amber eyed boy look at him blankly, "three up, two across," and with that said, he tapped one of the bricks with his umbrella, "now stand back."

Harry was greeted by the sight of the bricks twisting around, writhing out of the way as the dustbin practically hopped to the side, revealing a cobbled stone street filled with people wearing robes.

Honestly it was decidedly unimpressive, not when he had first looked up in the vortex world and realised the world wrapped upwards and over the shining sphere that was Kagutsuchi.

But beyond that there was only really one thing that kept forcing itself into his mind.

"Why is the entrance blocked when non-magical people can't see the pub itself?" it seemed rather pointless to him to have a secret entrance in a secret building when everyone who was allowed in the building was allowed through the entrance.

Hagrid seemed to pause to think it over before offering a shrug, "don't know, never thought about it, now come on, we gotta get to Gringotts."

And without any further ado, the eleven year old followed the man on his way along the street and towards a tall building made of what Harry assumed was white marble, which he would admit was far more impressive than the dingy little shops running along the street... he idly wondered why they didn't have it standing within the line of sight of the entrance, it would make for a much more impressive first sight.

"So Hagrid… what was with those people back in the pub?" he decided to ask, wondering if the man would bother answering him.

"Yer famous Harry," the large man said as they continued walking towards the bank.

"But why?" he asked bluntly.

"Because ya survived the killing curse," that just made the dark haired boy blink.

"So I'm famous for being alive?" he asked for confirmation.

"That an' ending you-know-who," Harry just gave him a blank stare before saying what he felt he had to.

"No I don't," the way Hagrid flinched at that statement made it clear that it was a touchy subject for the man.

"The dark lord who killed yer parents after terrorizing the world fer years," the way he said it as if it was the most obvious thing in the world only made Harry stare even more blankly.

"Are you telling me, that there was a dark lord who called himself you-know-who?" that just seemed awfully stupid in the amber eyed boy's opinion.

"No, that wasn't his name… but please don't make me say his name… I don't like saying it… nobody does really," the way the man seemed so desperate for the boy to not make him say it made Harry let out a sigh as they finally reached the front doors of the bank.

"Fine, I'll try and find out somewhere else then," he admitted, earning a sigh of relief as they passed the armoured figures on either side of the door.

He didn't bother paying any attention to them, they were clearly not human but that wasn't worth focusing on.

Which was probably why he didn't notice the way they tensed upon seeing him and stared at him with fear in their eyes.

It was only after entering the second set of doors and walking up to a teller that he realised something wasn't quite right.

"What is _that_ doing here?" the banker said while pointing at Harry before Hagrid could so much as open his mouth.

"Well that's just rude," Harry responded as he took note of how the non-humans were preparing themselves for conflict, "and to think I was just coming here because this guy clearly planned on getting me some money to buy my school supplies."

The way the little man seemed to sneer at that statement didn't really faze the boy.

"Now hold on here!" the loud bellow from Hagrid gathered everyone's attention, "I don't know why yer so upset about Harry here but he's just here to access his family vault."

"If he wants to access his family vault then he'll need to take a blood test," the teller stated vehemently.

"What? But I've got the key right here!" the man with a busy beard said as he started patting down his coat.

"That doesn't matter, I doubt he'll pass the test anyway," the teller said with narrowed eyes.

"Well then, I guess I probably should take this test then," Harry just shrugged before turning to Hagrid with a much more confused expression on his face, "and what was that about a family vault?"

"Then come," Hagrid didn't have a chance to respond as the short and spindly fingered creature called the boy to follow him and three guards into a door at the back, "if you have any other business to take care of here then I would advise you get it out of the way half-giant."

Harry noted the way the man cringed upon being called a half giant, but didn't really pay much more attention as another banker started dealing with the man who looked incredibly put off by the current situation.

"So… is this to do with me being a demon?" the way the teller and guards all stumbled upon being asked that as they walked towards the back of the bank was enough to tell the boy that they hadn't expected him to ask that.

"So you don't deny it?" the creature asked with a sneer.

"Why would I?" he responded with another shrug, "it's not like simply not being human makes a person evil."

"Then why are you pretending to be Harry Potter?" the suspicion in its tone was clear to anyone who heard but surprisingly the hallway was empty.

"I'm not, I really am Harry Potter," the amber eyed boy stated with a frown, "I was turned into a demon by an asshole that thought it would be fun to screw around with my life."

"And how did they turn you into a demon?" the question was clearly sceptical given the tone but found no problem in just telling the truth.

"Apparently Lucifer decided it would be a good idea to create a way to make humans demons… the result were the magatama… I currently have four of them," he admitted casually.

"Then you won't have a problem showing me these 'magatama' as you call them," the way the little man made that claim made it clear that he wasn't expecting the boy to do so.

"Sure, just be careful, if one enters you then you will become a demon and I haven't found any way to safely remove them yet," and with that, he easily pulled out one of the worm like beings and handed it to the banker to study.

Eventually the man shuddered and proceeded to hand it back to him, upon which he returned it to his pocket dimension.

"It would appear that you are telling the truth, though I will still require a blood sample to make sure you really are mister Potter," the fact that the creature was finally prepared to accept that he wasn't necessarily a threat didn't really bother Harry, he had always been sure of his innocence anyway.

Then a thought popped into his head from his fight with Matador.

"Wait, how does this blood test work?" he briefly worried that it wouldn't work right given his circumstances and he just hoped that it was similar to a muggle version.

"It compares your blood with the blood of your ancestors in order to determine if you are who you say you are," the way the short man's eyes narrowed told Harry that it was suddenly suspicious.

"Oh, that's fine then," he let out a sigh of relief as he realized there wouldn't be any complications.

"And why is that?" the growl that nearly came from his escorts voice as they entered a room off the side made it clear the man wasn't happy with his question or response.

"Because if it had asked magic itself who I am then I would probably come up as an error," he explained, remembering the information Peaseblossom had once given him about those that exist outside of order, something he had done ever since he became a demon.

"What makes you say that?" the confusion that appeared on the long fingered creatures face was clear for him to see.

"Because the magatama means I exist outside of order," he was about to explain it further before the teller finished for him.

"Therefore finding information about you by digging around the knowledge of the universe is impossible," it was clear that the creatures that operated the bank were far more knowledgeable in matters concerning higher beings than he had expected but that only made it easier for him in the end.

"Now, if you could please cut yourself with this knife and pour seven drops of blood into the basin, we can begin," and with that, the little man placed a marble basin before him with a ragged looking knife next to it.

Harry for his part didn't really care much about the blood he spilled into the basin. Instead he just casually counted the number of drops he was dropping into the bowl before pulling his hand away.

It took a few seconds but eventually the markings on the side of the bowl started glowing before the blood started boiling and turning into a fine red mist that spelled out two four words.

 _James Potter, Lily Potter_

"I take it those are the people that are a match for me?" he asked calmly, earning a nod of confirmation from the creature.

"That is correct, I suppose it proves that you are in fact Harry James Potter," it certainly wasn't a surprise to Harry as he simply shrugged, it was a foregone conclusion after all.

"So are we good now?" he asked, earning another nod off the short man.

"Yes, I suppose we are… though I will give you a piece of advice," it said, making Harry look at him with a raised eyebrow, "do not be so open about your nature, especially amongst wizards, there are many out there that would call you evil simply for being a demon, or consider you lower than them for not being human."

Harry found himself frowning at that, he had been hoping that the wizarding world would be more open to his nature than the typical non-magical society… he guessed he would just have to put up with it and try and keep his nature a secret.

Though he idly wondered how long it would be before it was revealed by the Hitoshura and one of his games.

"So… about that vault," and with that Harry found himself once again following the teller, this time heading downwards and into a large cavern below the bank, where he was quickly shoved onto a small cart that started whizzing about the place like Matador… but without the grace the bullfighter possessed.

Eventually they reached a small door that the banker pulled out a key for before opening, "your vault."

Harry couldn't stop himself from letting out a small whistle as he looked inside, "that's a lot of gold… is it possible to get a statement?"

"Ten Galleons," Harry found himself arching an eyebrow at the man, "that's how much it costs to get a statement."

"Gold, silver or bronze?" he asked, earning a wicked grin off the man.. he still hadn't bothered asking what his name or species was.

"Gold," the response earned a simple shrug off him but he wasn't really too concerned.

"Well the, ten gold coins to you then," he really wanted to know just how much money he had after all.

"Well then, just give me a few seconds," and with that the little man pulled out a blank sheet of paper and spoke in a language he didn't know the name of "{transfer details}"

And after seeing ink appear on the sheet, Harry was handed a piece of paper with an exact accounting of his finances.

"That is how much is currently inside the vault, it won't update so you'll have to keep track of what you've taken yourself," the creature stated bluntly, earning a nod off the boy.

"Thank you… now I believe I forgot to properly introduce myself," and with that, Harry gave a short bow, "Harry James Potter of the Fiend clan at your service."

It hadn't really taken that long after getting Moana for Harry to come to the realisation that he was of the Fiend clan, after all, they were the only ones that existed outside of order (outside of Lucifer himself).

"I see, then I suppose I should introduce myself then," and with a similar bow the being mimicked his introduction, "Ironhide of the Goblin clan, pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"Well then Ironhide, I think it's time for me to make a withdrawal," and with that, Harry found himself practically swimming in gold for the first time in his life.


	9. Chapter 9

"Harry!" the dark haired boy turned to face the clearly nervous half giant as he lumbered over to him like a steam roller, "what happened? Why did tha goblins take ya away?"

"Don't worry about it, everything has been sorted," he tried to placate the man and the fact was that everything had been sorted… and he had withdrawn roughly one hundred galleons… which according to Ironhide would translate as roughly five hundred pounds.

The fact that it wasn't even close to one percent of his total was proof of just how ludicrously wealthy his parents had been.

"Harry, whatever happened is serious, tha goblins don't take people fer tests like that without a proper reason," the giant of a man was clearly taking the fact that he had been escorted out of the main hall far more seriously than he thought the man would but then again, he hadn't been too concerned about it himself.

"Huh, nothing much, they just thought I was an imposter… probably the contacts, they seem to have a problem with yellow," he easily lied, earning a nod of acceptance from the man.

"Aye, yer famous fer having yer mothers eyes so I guess it makes sense they'd be suspicious," the man explained easily.

Harry for his part simply found himself internally groaning at the thought that people expected him to have a certain eye colour and would no doubt ask him about them whenever they first met.

"Well, first stop should be fer yer uniform," the man stated before leading the boy to a shop named _Madam Malkin's robes for all occasions_ , "ya mind if I go back ter tha Leaky Cauldron… those carts make me feel sick an I could do with a bit of a pick me up."

"Sure, I should be fine now I have my money," he admitted easily, it wasn't like he was some defenceless child that needed an adult to guide him everywhere… he'd fought his way through a demon infested inside out world after all.

"How much did ya take out anyway?" the bearded man asked, earning a non-committal shrug off the boy-who-lived.

"About one hundred galleons," the choke the man made was clear to the boy who simply looked at the giant of a man who seemed shocked by the figure given to him.

"Tha's too much!" the amber eyed child simply rolled his eyes in exasperation, he really didn't need the man telling him what was too much.

"Perhaps, but I'd rather have too much and have money left over than have too little and have to go back to the bank," his explanation seemed to make the older man deflate a little, clearly the man was still unsure about the thought of the young boy walking around with so much money.

"Harry… just don't go anywhere without me alright?" that struck the boy as suspicious before it finally clicked in his head just why the man was so nervous about him walking around with lots of money.

"Ah, don't worry, I'm more than capable of protecting myself," what he didn't say was just on the tip of his tongue _'from mere human's'._

That was something that he had noticed for quite a while, that he naturally seemed to look down on humans… he wondered if it was just his demonic nature talking and letting him know that he was above them or if he was just that disenchanted with the concept of 'human' that he just didn't care about them anymore.

Then again, there was only one human he knew that he really cared about so maybe it was just to do with the company he kept?

"Harry, you don't have yer wand yet so don't go getting in ta any trouble alright?" the beady eyed man said, earning another shrug off the boy, he wouldn't look for trouble, that much was for certain but if his luck ran the way it normally did, trouble would probably find him.

Most likely in a humanoid package with glowing tattoos if he was being honest with himself.

"I'll try but trouble tends to find me," he admitted, earning an unhappy look from the man, "but if you're that upset then I'll stay in Madam Malkin's until you get back… just don't be long, you were the one who said we didn't have time."

And with that said, the half-giant gave him a smile and proceeded to walk back towards the entrance of the alley while he entered the clothes shop with every intent on getting his hands on the school uniform.

"Hogwarts dear?" a short woman wearing mauve asked, earning a nod of acknowledgement from the boy, "got the lot here, another young is getting fit up just now in fact."

And then she pointed towards the back, where a young boy with blonde hair and pale skin was being seen to by a second woman.

It didn't take long for Harry to be set up on a stool and have a black robe draped over him as the woman started pinning it to size for him.

"Hullo, Hogwarts too?" Harry thought the boy was trying too hard at sounding important but decided to simply accept it as something to do with the fact that he seemed overly groomed for such a casual outing… meaning he was probably from an important family or something like that.

"Yep," he admitted without much preamble, earning a raised eyebrow from the blond.

"My father is next door buying my books and my mother's up the street looking at wands," the boy sounded very snobby in the amber eyed demon's opinion but he didn't really know enough to make any real conclusions about the kid, "then I'm going to drag them off to look at racing brooms. I don't see why first years can't have their own, I think I'll bully father into buying me one and find a way to smuggle it in… have you got your own broom?"

"Nope," Harry admitted easily, "I was raised by my non-magical aunt and uncle so this is the first time I've ever been with other magic users," that weren't demons was left unsaid.

Immediately a sneer adorned the other boys face, "so you're a mudblood, I don't know why they're letting you into Hogwarts but know this, you'll never get far as long as I am around."

Harry for his part simply raised an eyebrow before turning to the woman that was fitting him and noting the disgusted expression on her face.

"Can you please translate what he said for me?" he asked her with a smile, earning a grimace from the woman and a scowl off the other boy.

"He… was using a derogatory word to say that you were a muggleborn and that he would do everything he could to make your life a living hell," Harry simply stared at her before rewording what he said.

"Sorry, I understood the threat he was making, I was curious as to what mudblood meant… but now I'm curious, what does muggleborn mean?" that only seemed to further incite the well groomed child's ire.

"It means that you were born of muggles… non-magical folk," she expanded upon seeing his blank look.

"Okay… so why is he calling me a mudblood?" he asked, earning three looks of disbelief off the other occupants in the store, "I mean, sure my aunt and uncle are… muggles," he had to admit, he didn't like the sound of that word, "but my mother was a muggleborn and my father was something the goblins called a pure-blood."

He noted how the blond seemed to freeze at that admission before remembering that there was something else he could do to further torture the blond.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to mention didn't I," he put on his most disarming smile, "my name is Harry Potter, what's yours?"

He took great pleasure in seeing the other boy's face pale as his eyes glanced up to his forehead, finding the scar on his forehead before taking a nervous gulp.

He also noted how the two women seemed just as shocked by the revelation as the boy.

"D-Draco Malfoy, I think we may have gotten off on the wrong foot," he recovered reasonably quickly but the damage had already been done.

"Well then Mr Malfoy," Harry started in a sickly sweet manner that sent tremors up the others spines, "I guess I should let you know that you are on the verge of entering the 'people I dislike category' and trust me… you don't want to be in that category."

It was true, there were only five people in existence that were in that category so far, the Dursley's, the Hitoshura and that damned Pixie… and this boy would probably be closer to the Dursley's in terms of power and well, the Dursley's seriously regretted their prior attempts at keeping him beneath them.

Only those that were stronger than him had the right to look down on him.

Any further attempts from the boy to salvage the situation was cut short by the boy's eyes going wide and his mouth opening in shock, "would you look at that man!"

Harry simply turned to face the window, he didn't expect this boy to try anything while he was being fitted for his school robes and even if he did, Harry doubted the boy could cause him too much harm.

"Oh, that's just Hagrid," he informed the boy as he internally cringed at the pair of giant ice cream cones in his hands, had the man already forgotten what he had said about him and sweet things? "he's the groundskeeper at Hogwarts and the guy that was sent to escort me."

"Wait, are you telling me that _the_ Harry Potter is being escorted by the Hogwarts _groundkeeper_?" the boy seemed flabbergasted by the very thought and Harry internally realised exactly why the boy was shocked, if he had known he was famous he would've asked the same question.

But that didn't change the simple fact that he was currently more confused about the ice-cream.

"Yeah, he doesn't seem to be the sharpest tool in he shed," he admitted easily.

"I'll say, getting you a mint ice-cream and then eating it himself doesn't strike me as that smart," the boy casually stated, earning a raised eyebrow off the dark haired boy.

"What do you mean?" the snort the boy gave him was enough to tell him that his question was probably one that most wizards would consider ignorant but then again, he actually was ignorant of most of the stuff wizards took for granted.

"The second cone is probably steak flavour… either that or lamb," the witch that was just finishing up the blond boy stated, earning a couple of blinks off the demonic child.

"Wait, do they actually taste of meat or are they just called that?" he asked, earning a wry grin off the younger witch.

"They actually do taste of what they are called, that's something you need to know about wizard sweets, they can be _any_ flavour," the way she emphasised the word any actually made Harry curious, did they have Magatsuhi flavoured sweets?

He doubted it.

"I doubt they're _any_ flavour, most maybe but not _any_ ," he decided to say,

"Trust me, I do mean _any_ flavour," the amusement in her tone wasn't lost on the boy but he decided to just humour her, it wasn't like she even knew about Magatsuhi after all.

Then again, calling Magatsuhi a flavour wasn't quite right, it was more a burst of emotions that overcame your senses and left you in a state of ecstasy.

Then he remembered just how the conversation had gotten started.

"Still, I guess if that ice-cream is meat flavoured then it shouldn't be too bad," he admitted, earning confused looks off the others in the store, "I just thought he forgot that I don't like sweet things."

"You don't like sweet things?" the shock on the blonds face was clear for him to see, "what is wrong with you?"

Harry simply stared at the boy without saying anything, noting how he was quickly becoming unnerved by the attention.

"Well, that's you done Mr Potter," the woman that was fitting him said quickly, earning a raised eyebrow from the fiend.

"Wasn't he in before me?" his question was perfectly understandable, since the blond boy was already being fitted when he arrived.

"Yes but my assistant isn't as practiced as I am at fitting people," he simply nodded as he paid for the school robes and made his way out with a simple 'see ya', where he met Hagrid again.

"Heya Harry, got ya something," and with that the man proceeded to pass the ice-cream towards the boy who took it with a raised eyebrow.

"I heard this was probably either steak or lamb flavoured," he stated, earning a grin from the half-giant.

"Aye, it's lamb flavoured, have a lick," and Harry did just that, silently admitting that it did taste like lamb but wasn't quite right to be it… he bet it was due to the lack of residual Magatsuhi to add to the flavour.

"Well, I guess it beats chocolate," he admitted with a shrug as he continued to eat it, the fact that it wasn't sweet meant he could easily stomach it even if he wasn't particularly fond of it.

XXX XXX XXX

Harry had to admit, Hagrid was rather annoying, all he wanted was to get as much reading material as he could… just because he didn't really sleep didn't mean he wanted to keep everyone awake all night, after all, if he kept Vernon awake all night the idiot might crash his car, lose his job and then he wouldn't have a house over his head.

And he liked TV and games.

So he wanted something to keep his attention during the night… and given what he'd heard about magic and technology, he wouldn't have access to anything more than books and his companions when everyone else was asleep.

But that was neither here nor there, the fact that Hagrid was such a pain with how he kept trying to take him away from the reading material he was looking through.

Thankfully Harry was more than strong enough both in body and will to force the man to stay a little longer as he spent nearly fifty galleons on books.

That didn't change the fact that he was now at the end of the list and all that was left was his wand… even if Hagrid had decided to get him an owl.

He'd ended up accepting it if only because it could carry his post… which he could actually send to the post office in Diagon Alley and have them redirect it into the standard Post Office for proper delivery, even if he would have to give Rachael a P. as a return address for delivery to him.

But since he now had the owl, he decided to give it a name, Éowyn, in the hopes that the snowy owl would prove to be as tough as the fictional woman that killed the Witch-King of Angmar where no man could.

But now it was time.

And Harry was suitably unimpressed by the wand shop.

It was for lack of a better word, shabby and the only thing that really made it stand out in the dingy little alley was the sign that stated 'Ollivanders: Makers Of Fine Wands Since 382 B.C'.

"It looks like it hasn't been redecorated since three eighty two B.C," Harry found himself muttering under his breath as he looked in the window to see a single wand on a purple cloth before entering the building with the half-giant.

The store itself was tiny, filled with shelves containing boxes while a single small chair was located off to the side which Hagrid walked over to in order to get a seat while Harry was 'fitted' out for his wand.

"You know," Harry called out easily as he sensed the presence creeping up behind him, "sneaking up on people is liable to get you punched in the face."

"Yes, well, it hasn't happened yet and most people don't notice me until I speak up," the voice was old and Harry simply tilted his head to look at the man.

Just like the rest of the wizards, he was nothing impressive,

Honestly, when was he going to meet some wise old man with an awesome beard? He'd been hoping to find such a person ever since reading about Gandalf so when was he going to meet such a figure?

"So… you are Harry Potter… but something is off," the old man muttered with a frown before his eyes widened in what Harry was certain was some sort of realisation.

"Yes, I am Harry Potter and I've already been through this crap with the Goblins at Gringotts," he decided to state before the man could say something that might make Hagrid even more of an annoyance than he currently was, "anyway, I'm here for a wand."

"So you've already had a meeting with the Goblins and they accepted you?" he nodded in confirmation, "I will check in with them later but for now, I suppose we should start with trying to find your wand."

Harry tuned out what the man said about the wand choosing the master and how he had sold the wand that had killed his parents… instead he just looked at all the different boxes lining the shelves and trying to find any that called out to him.

He frowned as he realised that not only where none of them calling out to him, most were outright rejecting him.

So when the old man with large eyes walked up to him carrying a box with a wand that was violently lashing out at him, he simply crossed his arms and made his decision.

"No," the shocked look that adorned the wandmakers face was clear.

"What do ya mean no!" Hagrid however was far more vocal about it.

"Look, I'm _very_ sensitive to magic and right now, there is not a single wand in this store that is accepting me… every last one of them is either shying away or lashing out, I'm not compatible with any of them," he stated with a shake of his head, earning a look of betrayal from the half-giant.

"But Harry, ya need a wand fer Hogwarts," the man said in a whining voice, earning a raised eyebrow off the demon.

"Did I ever say I wouldn't get a wand?" he asked, earning a few blinks from both individuals, "say… Mr Ollivander, how are wands made?"

"Wand making is an exact craft, requiring the correct length for the wizard, alongside the correct wood and an appropriate magical core," he explained, "the magical core tends to be a piece of a magical creature, such as a phoenix feather, unicorn hair, dragon heartstring and other such things."

Harry for his part simply nodded before making his next statement.

"In that case I'll come back within the week with material's that shouldn't reject me," he stated firmly, "I'll try and keep them as long as possible so you can start off long and cut it down till it's a working length for me… is that alright with you?"

"it will give me a chance to speak with the Goblin's about your… unusual circumstances" the man admitted calmly.

"Alright then, it's settled, we're leaving for now and I'll come back later in the week," Harry for his part simply accepted the way things had gone in the store… however Hagrid for his part just seemed like a kicked puppy.

"Harry? Come on, ya can't just give up before even trying one wand," he pleaded, earning a blank stare from the boy.

"Hagrid, most of the wands were _lashing out at me_ , it wasn't simply a case of them not working for me, it was a case of they were _trying to attack me_ ," he stated seriously, earning a flinch from the giant, "besides, I was serious about getting materials."

"But Harry, how do ya expect to find magical materials?" the man asked as they finally left the store.

"I have my sources, so please just quit it and let it be… I'll be fine returning later," the young boy said with an air of finality in his tone.

It appeared that the eleven foot tall man could do little more as he slumped in defeat at the young boys determination.

And it was with the fact that there was nothing left on his list to get that Harry and Hagrid proceeded back towards the entrance to Diagon Alley after Harry convinced the man to let him convert some of his galleons into 'muggle money', through the Leaky Cauldron and back into 'muggle London' as Hagrid called it.

"Are you sure you don't want something ter eat?" the bushy bearded man asked with a frown, earning a nod off the boy.

"Yes, I'm not a big eater… never really felt hungry," he admitted, earning a frown off the man.

"I see… oh, nearly forgot, yer ticket," and with that the overly friendly man proceeded to give the boy an envelope, "first o' September, King's Cross, everything's on there… just don't forget about yer wand."

"Don't worry, I won't," and with that, Harry was once again on a train heading towards another part of the city.

And he already knew where his first stop would be.

XXX XXX XXX

Albus Dumbledore couldn't stop his heart from beating at the thought of what Harry Potter's life might have been like growing up.

He had been the one to leave him with his aunt and uncle and he had questioned that decision several times over the years… was a family that hated magic really the best place to let a wizard grow up in?

Sure Arabella was there to keep an eye on things but the woman wasn't exactly the most reliable person he knew.

That's not to say her heart wasn't in the right place but she certainly wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed… not blunt either but if the signs were subtle enough then she might very well miss them.

So he had sent Hagrid, hoping that the man would be a kind face in a sea of hostility, something that could help Harry trust the wizarding world when he may very well not trust anyone.

He just hoped he had made the right decision.

The knock on his door was very telling as it sounded almost like one of those cannons he had seen on one of his trips across the country.

"Come in Hagrid," the old headmaster stated calmly, causing the door to creak open and the significantly taller man to enter with his head held low… he was pretty sure it was just because of how low the ceiling was in comparison to the half-giant, "lemon drop?"

"Thank you professor Dumbledore," the man responded before taking one of the offered sweets, it really upset him that Hagrid was probably the only person that actually accepted his offers of sweets… though he did silently rejoice in the fact that that meant there were usually more left for him.

"So how was young Mr Potter?" he briefly felt a tremble rock his frame as the giant of a man took several seconds to answer.

"I don't know headmaster," that was really worrying.

"Do you mind if I collect your memories of the event?" the old man asked, earning a shake of the man's head.

"Nah, I don't mind, yer've done so much fer me it's the least I can do," Dumbledore briefly felt a surge of guilt swell up within himself. If only he had managed to stop Tom back then, then maybe Hagrid wouldn't be sitting here as a groundskeeper and would instead be an auror, his magical resistance would've made him a great help in keeping the law of the wizarding world upheld.

And so he felt guilty that the man wasn't doing so much better than he currently was.

Pushing those thoughts down, he proceeded to place his wand to the kind soul's forehead and started to extract the memory of the day, giving Hagrid instructions throughout the process.

When he was finished pulling out the silvery strand that was a copy of the memory, he placed it inside his Pensieve before putting his head in and viewing the memory for himself.

He found himself frowning as he failed to understand the boy, the Dursley's were clearly scared of him from what the memory showed, plus he was apparently enough to put the Goblins on guard… but then he wasn't exactly cruel or aggressive… perhaps outside of the trip inside Ollivanders… that was enough to truly make him frown.

The boy could feel the wands rejecting him? Not just rejecting but lashing out at him?

And he had his own sources of magical materials?

It was growing more and more clear to him that someone had interfered with Harry's life but even then, he wasn't sure if Harry was going dark or if he had simply lashed out at the Dursley's for mistreating him.

He would need to be careful about the boy when he finally started attending Hogwarts.

Hopefully the Sorting Hat would tell him more about the boy and his mentality.

He just prayed that Harry wasn't irredeemable and that his fears about that scar were unfounded.

XXX XXX XXX

Harry couldn't stop himself from feeling guilty as he watched Jiao shiver in revulsion.

But if he wanted a wand that would work for him he needed to use it.

Magnolia wood.

It was wood from the same family of trees that she had been born from and she was now staring at it, probably silently wondering if it had been _her_ tree.

Though he knew that if it _was_ her tree, then it would probably work even better for him than if it wasn't.

After all, as it was her magic that would be infused into the tree, there was no way it wouldn't accept him.

"Jiao… do you think you could pour some of your magic into the wood?" he asked, he knew he could just order her to do so and she would be incapable of denying him but he didn't want to do something like that.

It was one of the reasons he never ordered Moana to stop trying to seduce him.

Instead he just let Elisheva act as his shield against the lustful demon, which he was actually rather happy to see had resulted in a strange dynamic between the two over the few months they had been together.

Where at first the two had been at each other's throats all the time, they had eventually settled into what Harry would probably call a 'friendly rivalry' where Moana was constantly trying to seduce him and corrupt the angel, while Elisheva was constantly trying to protect his chastity and reject the dark haired seductresses attempts on her purity.

"Yes…" she said it with a defeated tone, making Harry cringe.

"You don't have to if you don't want to," he decided to state, hoping she wasn't mistaking his request as a demand.

"I know," her voice was low and she put her hands up to the wood, "but I want to help you and this is how I can best do it right now."

"Oh, I want to help too!" Harry internally groaned as he felt a pair of arms wrap around him from behind, his senses growing weak against an aura of seduction and a low husky voice whisper into his ear, "maybe by making you feel goo, OW!"

"Unacceptable," and with that Harry smirked, the arms removing themselves from him and the aura growing too weak to affect him anymore.

Well the aura wasn't really growing any weaker but Harry had been exposed to it so often that he had managed to develop a resistance to the magic, so much so that she actually had to ramp it up to affect him anymore.

"I wonder if those two will ever get along?" he heard Jiao mutter as the two human sized, winged beings started one of their ever frequent arguments.

"What are you talking about? They're getting along just fine," he stated quietly and with a wry grin.

"Are you sure?" the scepticism in her tone was clear for him to hear.

"Yep, if you haven't noticed, they both enjoy these little arguments," he made sure to keep himself quiet enough that the bickering subordinates wouldn't hear him though he earned a raised eyebrow off the tiny red skinned Jirae.

"Well… if you're sure about it," and with that said, she continued to pour her magic into the wood.

The fact that the wood was so closely related to her only meant that it would assimilate the magic instead of storing it… so it was probably the best wood he could possibly get for himself.

There was the issue of the core but that was easily resolved as he pulled out a small box.

"Hey, Moana, Elisheva, can I get a hair off each of you," he noted the way the Lilim's hand headed towards her crotch before clarifying his statement, "from your head."

"Spoilsport," and with a pout from the bat winged demon, he received a hair of the deepest black and brightest gold that he would use as his wands core.


	10. Chapter 10

Rachael wasn't happy.

That much was clear to Harry as he looked at the way she kept her arms crossed and her face turned away from him as he sat in her room like he regularly did.

She was like this because of two reason, one he had told her that he wouldn't be able to contact through anything but letters because the school he was going to be going to didn't have any phones or reception for a mobile… not that he had one anyway, and two, because he hadn't seen her on his birthday due to Hagrid taking him to Diagon Alley.

And boy was he tempted to just tell her the truth.

The fact that he didn't care about the 'Ministry Of Magic' and their 'Statute Of Secrecy' meant that he would be more than willing to break every bone in anyone they sent to 'deal' with her if they ever found out.

The problem was that he didn't want her involved in the supernatural aspects of his life due to the inherent danger associated with them.

After all, he may be capable of protecting her from the wizards but he knew that he had things _far_ more dangerous than them to deal with… Matador had shown him that without any room for argument.

And so he didn't tell her that he was going to a school that taught real life magic, that he was probably going to outperform everyone there due to the fact that he was a demon and therefore capable of feeling the flow of magic and how it worked in the world around him.

And he definitely kept quiet about the Goblins, given her frustration with that game they had given up on months ago, he could see her declaring war on the wizarding bank out of pure spite.

The fact that they had nothing to do with the game probably wouldn't matter to her.

He blinked at that thought, what was there to say that they _didn't_ have anything to do with the game? They did seem rather business savvy after all… which led his mind to think of certain businessmen that were at the cutting edge of technology and just how much money each made off their computer companies.

He found that he wouldn't be surprised if either one was either a front man for, or a goblin in disguise.

Personally, he was hoping for the goblin in disguise angle.

"So, I take it you're still not speaking to me?" he asked as he turned his attention back to his first ever friend.

Just thinking of that made him feel a pang of guilt at the thought that he was keeping her out of most of his life despite the fact that she was the only human he was actually close to.

Silence was his answer.

Letting out a sigh, he tried to think of a way to mend their relationship, then again, the rift was being created by the fact that they were going to different high schools and wouldn't be able to see each other for nine months of the year… which also meant that he wouldn't be able to help her with her homework…

Harry found himself having a minor epiphany as he sat there with the girl, that while he would be limited in what he could do at night, he could very well use some of that time to learn a mundane curriculum.

Sure he would also hang around with Jiao, Moana and Elisheva… maybe even Titania if he could find somewhere for Peaseblossom to set up a terminal safe from tampering by curious students and concerned adults.

The fact that Elisheva said she knew somewhere that was perfect had made the boy curious until she had stated that Tom Marvolo Riddle had gone to Hogwarts and had been doing quite a lot before he crossed the line and did something unforgiveable.

When he asked, he had gotten a short explanation on things the human's apparently called Horcruxes but that demons tended to call, 'partial phylacteries'.

Who knew that the demons were more read up on D&D than the wizards.

Though that didn't change the fact that he wasn't particularly happy with the statement from her that there was a giant snake that could kill with a glance lurking around this secret room.

That didn't change the fact that she also told him that it tended to be trapped in the mouth of a statue unless a certain password was recited to it.

It didn't really make him feel any better about the existence of a giant snake that could kill just by making eye contact with it.

Not that he was scared of it, if there was one thing he knew it was that there was always a way around something, it was just a matter of finding that method of bypassing whatever defence an enemy had.

Just like how he was certain he would eventually find a way around the Hitoshura's invulnerability, it was just a case of finding that method.

So dealing with a monster that could kill with a glance, he would just have to find a way of bypassing the need to see it.

Or maybe he'd just find a mirror and have it look at itself, that was supposed to work with Cockatrices after all.

Though he found the thought of getting a pet Weasel was tempting as well… that is, provided it didn't try to eat Jiao.

"Come on Rachael, my parents signed me up to this school before I was even born," he said, the fact was that they practically _had_ signed him up due to the fact that he was technically a wizard.

And once again he was greeted by silence.

"Fine, I guess I'll just go back into London to finish getting my supplies," he decided as he pushed himself from his seated position.

Sure he still had nearly a month to get his wand but he decided it was probably best for him to get it out of the way and given how Rachael wasn't prepared to speak to him out of the fact that she was still angry with him for not seeing her on his birthday… even if he had told her that someone from the faculty had come over to assist him in finding his school supplies.

"You're going into London?" and now she decided to start speaking to him.

"So you're finally talking to me again?" he asked with amusement in his tone.

The pouting glare he received in response nearly had him laughing at how ridiculous it looked.

"Fine, fine, yes I'm going into London, do you want anything?" he asked her, only to find himself frowning at her request.

"Can I go with you?" if he wasn't going to be going to Diagon Alley then he would happily take her but the fact was that he was going to be going into the wizarding world again and he didn't want to get her involved.

But at the same time he didn't want to upset her anymore than he already had.

"Rachael, my school is a very secretive one," he decided to tell her the truth, "even the shops for the supplies don't like people who aren't connected to the school showing up."

He could easily see that she was close to teas, the fact that he was making excuses to say no probably made her feel like he simply didn't want to spend any more time with her.

"But if you want to go then we can go… provided you don't want to see anything to do with my new school," he admitted, earning a blank stare off the young girl.

"Are you serious about your school?" she asked, so he nodded, "it sounds like some sort of secret society… like underground superheroes or mages."

"Mages," he decided to admit bluntly knowing that it wouldn't be taken seriously, earning a small laugh from the human.

"It would be funny if they were real," he found himself feeling further depression at the fact that he was probably keeping her ignorant of the truth, if there was anyone that would be capable of appreciating the existence of magic, it would be Rachael.

And once again, he felt the temptation to just ignore his concerns and tell her about the fact that he was both a wizard and a demon… the fact that one of her favourite superheroes was Etrigan probably meant that she wouldn't care that he was a demon, it would probably just make her think he was even more awesome than she already thought he was.

His silence however was obviously picked up on by the 'muggle'.

"Wait, you're serious?" he cringed, he sometimes forgot that despite her age, despite the fact that she was the same age as he was, she was sharp, probably due to the sheer number of things she had seen and watched aimed at older audiences.

"Nope," he quickly stated, earning a smirk off the girl.

"You said that way too quickly," and he cringed again, "can you show me?"

He noted the expectant look on her face and found himself once again trying to resist the urge to get her involved in everything… but this time, this time she was already under the impression that he was hiding something and was looking at him expectantly.

And so with a click of his fingers, he caved in to her will.

"{Well, so much for hiding magic from her,}" Harry found himself sighing as he listened to the soft chirping that came from his first demon companion, understanding every noise she made like he did with nearly all languages.

"You… you have a fairy?" he found himself smirking slightly at the flabbergasted expression that adorned his first friends face.

"She's a Hua Po actually," he corrected her, "a Chinese nature spirit born of a tree where at least three people were hung."

"Uh… that doesn't sound nice," the hesitation in Rachael's voice was perfectly clear, then again, she probably understood that what he said meant the cute little fairy was in fact born of death, "so does every mage have something like that?"

"Uh… well, they call themselves witches and wizards and wave wands about," he decided to explain to her, honestly he preferred the term mage, probably because he felt it sounded less outdated than the terms they used, "and no, most don't have a demon under their employ."

Silence reigned after that statement, and Harry soon found himself looking at his first friend as she looked at him as if he was stupid.

"You call _that_ a demon?" the sheer incredulousness of her statement made him wonder if his explanation on what demons actually were would get through to her.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" he once again let out a sigh as Jiao decided to take offense to his first friend's bluntness… and in English instead of whatever chirp like language she was using before.

"I… it talks?" the only human of the group managed to squeak out in surprise at the mere fact that the little red Jirae she had thought couldn't talk proved it could.

"Of course I can, only a small number of demons can't speak nearly every language fluently," the tiny girl stated with a glare.

"Bu… but how can a fairy be a demon?" she seemed almost speechless at the mere fact that the being before her was a demon.

"The same way an angel can," Harry decided to admit, earning another blank look off the girl, "as far as things that transcend reality are concerned, the term 'demon' is just a classification for them all… it's the clans that really tell you about them."

The blank stare he received told him that she hadn't managed to figure out what he was saying… or that she thought it was stupid, this time he really couldn't tell.

"Okay, ignoring the fact your little friend is supposed to be a demon," Rachael started, "why do you have one in the first place if most wizards don't?"

"Because I ran into a demon when I was younger and it turned me into one," he decided to just state it as bluntly as he could, the fact was that if Rachael had managed to realise that there was more to him than he told her, then he was going to tell her everything.

"You're a demon?" he nodded, earning a scrutinising gaze off the girl, "since when?"

"Since before I met you," his admission seemed to make her eyes narrow even further.

"Are you going to try and convince me to sell my soul?" he almost snorted at her question.

"Only if you want to," he laughed out, though he quickly took on a more thoughtful expression, "actually, now that you mention it… hey, Jiao, what would happen if Rachael sold her soul to me?"

"{She would become your slave after death}" he frowned at the way she said it in her native tongue, a language that no human would be capable of understanding.

"And what do you mean by slave?" he specifically chose to speak in English so that Rachael would understand that he wasn't trying to hide anything from her.

The fact that she looked shocked by what he said proved to him that it really was something he'd rather she hear herself.

"You do realise that I stopped speaking English so she wouldn't be capable of identifying what we were saying right?" Jiao for her part sounded rather annoyed by that decision.

"Yes, but I _want_ Rachael to know what we're talking about," he admitted with a deadpanned expression adorning his face.

"Wait, what was that about being a slave?" Harry simply shrugged in response.

"That if you sell your soul to a demon, then after you die, you will become that demons slave… though most tend to just eat the souls since they taste pretty good," the Hua Po stated with amusement, earning wide eyes off the other girl.

"And what do you mean about the slave part?" the black haired boy asked again, earning a sigh off the smallest of the group.

"Given how close you are to that girl," the bigger of the females in the room seemed to bristle at being referred to in such a dismissive manner, "then it'll probably mean very little."

"Huh?" both of the younger individuals couldn't stop themselves from simply blurting out in confusion.

"Well, being a demons slave means that you are only allowed as much free will as they allow you," the red skinned Jirae stated calmly, "and given how much you hate denying free will and how close you are to that girl, it'll probably just guarantee her continued existence after death."

Harry for his part simply stared at his first demon companion, wondering why she refused to refer to his first friend by name before finally just giving up on trying to understand her.

"So if I did sell my soul to him, it wouldn't be too bad for me?" Harry simply turned to face his first friend with surprise on his face.

"Wait, Rachael, you can't seriously be thinking about it?" he asked, earning a sideward's glance from her.

"That depends if you could give me what I want," he suddenly found himself curious, he had no idea what she would want but was willing to listen to her, "… I want magic and to go to the same school you are."

He simply found himself frozen at that statement but was about to tell her that he couldn't when Jiao cut him off.

"That should be easy enough," he looked at her in shock, "I know you've never made a contract before, it's always been the ones selling their souls to you that formed it after all… but the fact is that a demon can do things they normally can't if they create a contract."

"So you're saying I could make her a witch?" he received a nod in response, "but what about the whole Hogwarts letter thing?"

"Well, you already have the type of magic she has so it should be easy to get her body to create its own, as for the letter, that should be easy to adjust, it will probably only affect a handful of people so altering it shouldn't create too many ripples in history," she explained to him, "so do you want to create the contract? Your instincts should tell you how to make it."

Harry for his part acknowledged that last part, he could feel his instincts telling him what to do to create the contract after all.

"Are you sure about this?" he asked the human he was closest to, earning a small grin from the girl.

"You haven't tried screwing me over before so I guess I'll trust you to not do it now," the smile she gave him was surprisingly mirthful and he found himself once again realising just why he cared about her.

Because like him she didn't care about labels.

XXX XXX XXXX

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore leaned back in his chair thinking on a certain boy.

Harry Potter had shown himself to be completely different to what he had expected, the fact that the boy was calm and confident, bordering on arrogant if he was honest, was not what he had expected from him living with the Dursley's.

The fact that the boy had amber eyes and set the Goblins on edge was only further proof of the fact that something had happened to him.

He knew that Hagrid had fallen for the contacts explanation but he knew that the Goblins wouldn't be fooled by something like that, they were far too magically sensitive for such a thing to make a difference to them.

So the question was quite simply 'what had happened to him?'

Then he felt it.

A distortion.

Something was trying to rewrite his memories, distort what he knew and implant new information in his head.

It wouldn't work.

Not because of his skill, he could tell that the distortion wasn't simple magic, but because of a contract he had made when he was younger.

"Someone has signed a demon's contract," he muttered as he wondered who had signed a demonic contract and what changes it would make, "I suppose I should once again thank you for the contract Fawkes."

The phoenix that rested on a perch near his desk preened under his gratitude.

XXX XXX XXX

Harry had to admit, forming the contract had been surprisingly easy, the fact that afterwards she had definitely possessed magic and a Hogwarts letter only further reinforced the fact that it had been successful.

And then almost immediately a professor had arrived.

The young demon had quickly dismissed Jiao before Rachael's mother could see her and in the end, Harry had gotten a lift to Diagon Alley with his first friend, her parents and one Professor Minerva McGonagall.

"I apologize for the lateness of my arrival but it has been a busy year as far as muggleborns are concerned," the strict looking transfiguration professor apologized yet again, though given how haggard she looked, they had quickly accepted her excuse of being too busy to arrive earlier.

The looks on everyones faces as they first witnessed Diagon Alley let him know that his initial impression had probably been too tainted by his experience in the vortex world to be a good indicator of how most people reacted.

"Yo, Professor McGonagall?" he decided to ask her a question Hagrid had failed to do so, though the look of disapproval on her face made it clear she wasn't expecting to deal with an extra passenger that clearly had a better idea of what the magical world was like, "why is the entrance hidden when the pub is as well?"

The way her expression seemed to soften at that made it clear that it was a question she fully understood.

"I once asked the same question," she admitted, "the reason is to give muggleborns a more impactful first impression of the alley itself."

Now that made sense to him, he had thought it was something to do with secrecy but then again, given how poor of a first impression the pub would be, it did make perfect sense that they would want to give a better second impression of the wizarding world.

"So it's all to do with trying to overwhelm us?" Rachael's father asked with narrowed eyes.

"Unfortunately yes," the teacher admitted, "since the wizarding society is as small as it is, the Ministry of Magic decided that they need to try and keep as many muggleborns as possible and that giving a good impression of the Alley is one of the more efficient ways of doing so… I will admit that there are better ways but I'm sure you know what politicians are like."

The cringe that came over the oldest male of the group was clear to everyone, apparently he was fully aware of just what she meant.

"Well, I believe it is time to go and get your money exchanged at Gringotts," that statement from the teacher got a reaction from the two adults.

"You mean you don't take cards?" the oldest man asked with surprise clear in his tone.

"Electronics don't work properly around high concentrations of magic," Harry decided to supply, "though small amounts of magic don't have much of an impact on them."

"We'll have to find a cash machine," it was clear that unlike her husband, Rachael's mother was already resigned to the fact that they probably wouldn't change their daughters mind.

"Or I could just buy it all as a thank you for being so good to me," Harry decided to cut it, earning looks off the three that weren't of the magical world.

"Harry, I doubt this shopping trip can be paid for with pocket change," the woman that raised his first friend said with a shake of her head.

"I know, but I just found out yesterday that my father was from a long line of wizards… and a multi-millionaire with me as the only heir," he admitted calmly, earning stares off the two adults and a look of shock from the other child.

"Even though that may be true," the fact that the teacher admitted that it was true seemed to make the two adults blink in surprise that he was actually being honest, "it is probably best if you aren't too frivolous with your finances."

"Yeah, I know that but it doesn't change the fact that paying for my best friends school stuff isn't going to put too much of a dent into them," he decided to simply call her his best friend because if he was perfectly honest, she was his best _human_ friend and now that there was going to be no more hiding, she probably would become his overall best friend once again.

He was also rather happy at the fact that he had told her about the wizarding worlds prejudice against non-humans, so she probably wouldn't tell anyone about the fact he was a demon.

"Very well, then I suppose we can go to Gringotts and make a withdrawal from your family vault," and with that the strict looking professor proceeded to lead them through the alley and towards the wizarding bank once again.

"Harry… you didn't tell me you were rich," he found himself shrugging at his human friend's statement.

"Like I said, I only found out yesterday and on top of that, only a witch or wizard should know that," he admitted easily, earning a pout from his long time friend though she said no more on the subject.

Eventually though, they finally made it to the main entrance of Gringotts wizarding bank, where upon Harry quickly picked out a familiar face among the tellers and went to the Goblin while the three that were born muggles stared in shock at the non-humans.

"Yo, Ironhide right?" he called out to the familiar face earning a raised eyebrow off the Goblin.

"I'm surprised you recognise me, most wizards never bother to remember who we are," the short man at a ledger stated calmly.

"I'd like to make another withdrawal please," he asked, earning a blank stare off the Goblin that dealt with him the previous day, "it's for my friend over there," he explained gesturing to the others in the entrance.

"I see… Ripsnout!" and with that call, another goblin arrived, "please take mister Potter to his vault, I trust he has remembered to bring his key?"

"Yep," and with that he placed his hand in his jacket before pulling his key out of his extra-dimensional space and showing it to the goblins.

"Please follow me," it was clear that Ironhide had explained his situation to the other goblins given how none of them were paying any extra attention to him now… however he found himself letting out a sigh of exasperation at the last thing he heard before leaving the hall.

"GOBLIN'S!" he just knew Rachael was going to accuse them of making that game.

XXX XXX XXX

"Cheer up Rachael, just because it was the Tengu responsible for it doesn't mean you didn't get a good yell," Harry said while trying to suppress a laugh.

To think that it was Tengu and not Goblin's that were responsible for financing most Japanese Technological advances in entertainment.

Apparently the two species had developed a bit of a rivalry after globalisation, with the Goblins financing the start of Microsoft _and_ Apple.

He had to admit, he was impressed they managed to keep their existence a secret despite that.

"Anyway, here's one hundred Galleons, that should be about five hundred pounds," he said as he gave the gold to the shell shocked family, "if you have any left over, feel free to spend it on anything else you want, I've got to go to Ollivanders to give him the materials for my wand."

"Wait, you need to supply your own materials for a wand?" the oldest man in the group asked in shock, earning a shake of the demon's head.

"No, I'm just getting myself a custom wand, there are plenty of premade ones," he admitted, earning a sigh of relief from the older male.

"Anyway, I'll see you when you get to your wand," he said before setting off towards the wand shop.

It was just as dingy as it was the previous day.

"Hey old man, what did I tell you about sneaking up on people?" he asked upon entering the store, making the old man walk out in front of him.

"I suppose that's what I get for trying to sneak up on a demon," the man didn't seem too fazed by the knowledge that he wasn't human, then again, he had clearly possessed a lot of experience in dealing with non-human's so he probably realised that every individual was different.

"Anyway, I got the materials," and with that, he pulled out the block of Magnolia wood and the jar containing two fine hairs, "think you can make a wand out of them?"

"Provided they don't react too violently together, then yes," the wand maker admitted as he took the materials, "though I do have a request to make of you for payment."

Harry found his eyes narrowing at that.

"The hair of a demon is something I don't normally have access to, I was hoping you would be willing to donate a couple for me to make a few new wands with," that made sense as far as he was concerned, as a wand crafter, it was obvious the man would want access to rare core materials.

"Alright then, I guess I can accept that," honestly he would be more nervous about giving parts of his body away if he hadn't already learned that binding demons required power… lots of power and that pieces of the demon didn't really matter in the grand scheme of things.

"Well then, I'll take my payment after we've prepared your wand for you then," and with that the older man started the process of crafting the wand that would work for him.

XXX XXX XXX

It was nearly two hours later that Harry gave up three hairs in exchange for the wand.

"I would like to ask you mister Potter, outside of the Magnolia wood, what were the other materials you gave me?" Ollivander definitely seemed curious as to the source of the two hairs, "they were of conflicting natures, they should've neutralized each other's influence but instead they seemed to harmonize… can you explain why that is?"

"Well, the black hair was from what is essentially a Succubus while the blonde was from an Angel," he admitted earning wide eyes off the man, "and they probably work together because they both sold their souls to me."

The blank expression that adorned the older man's face told him that what he said sounded stupid.

"I suppose it would make sense though I find it hard to believe that an angel would sell its soul to a demon," the man admitted, earning a shrug in response.

"I know," the younger of the two admitted before the door opened and the four he had left earlier came in.

"Hey Harry!" Rachael practically shouted, "we got ice-cream… did you know they did hot-dog flavour ice-cream?"

"No, though I did have lamb flavoured ice-cream yesterday," he admitted, earning a small laugh from the girl.

"Anyway, Mister Potter," Ollivander decided to cut in, "I can tell you that your wand will specialize in inanimate to animate Transfigurations, as well as the healing arts, light arts, mind arts and… the dark arts."

"What do you mean by 'light arts'?" was the only thing he could ask.

"Charms that repel dark creatures," the older man explained easily, earning a nod off the boy, "now, give it a swish."

And with a single swish, Harry was greeted by an image in red, of a familiar worm like creature with thin limbs, except there was more to it than he was familiar with on the magatama. Four wings, one set of feathered, bird like wings, another of leathery, bat like wings, both erupting from its back, while the normally mandible like head that the worm normally possessed was instead replaced by a magnolia flower.

"You know… I like that image," he admitted with a smirk as he decided it suited him perfectly.

"Now young miss, I suspect you came here for your first wand as well," and with that, the old man quickly refocused his attention on the young demon's human friend, ready to find the perfect wand for her.


	11. Chapter 11

It was finally time.

The day of the Hogwarts express had finally arrived and Harry was even getting a lift to King Cross station with Rachael and her parents.

The main problem however was simple.

"I still can't believe I failed to cast a single spell," the fact that Rachael was moaning about her talent in magic had become a rather normal situation as far as Harry was concerned now.

She had initially asked him why she failed so much and his response had been to simply tell her that he had just given her magic… he hadn't given her talent with it.

The fact that her wand was supposed to be suited for Defence Against The Dark Arts had gotten her to smile but without the talent, she would have to work hard to achieve the results she wanted.

And he knew from experience just how hard it was to get her to work hard.

The only consolation was that she was so enamoured with the idea of magic as a form of superpower that she would probably try harder than normal for longer than normal before giving up.

It didn't change the fact that she wasn't the most studious of individuals.

Or the fact that she was about as reckless as a lemming, something that was further proven by how quickly she decided she wanted to learn magic despite the cost.

Honestly, the only reason he decided to accept the contract was due to the simple fact that he would rather have reign over her soul than let some unknown deity have reign over it… after all, he knew he wouldn't let her soul suffer or perish.

"Did you manage to cast any spells?" she asked him quietly as they finally took their seats in the back of the car, Harry even bringing along a trunk filled with things he may need, if only to fake a semblance of normality for the two adults.

"A few," he decided not to mention the fact that he could feel how the spell was working and that he had about an extra week worth of practice on her due to not sleeping, he would admit it if it wasn't for the fact that her parents were within earshot.

"That's so unfair," her grumbling was clear and he found himself letting out a small smile at it, before noting that they had just passed through Privet Drive.

He would miss Dudley's game consoles.

"You know, we never did complete Ghosts'n Goblins did we?" he muttered with a smirk on his face as he remembered that one game they couldn't finish.

"No… we didn't," she sounded almost wistful at that admission, "I wonder if the ending is worth it?"

"Who knows, but then again, as a game, isn't the journey more important?" he asked before his mind froze on that thought.

In a game the journey was more important than the end since it was what you interacted with… maybe the Hitoshura also thought that way and that was why the endings so far had all been so stupidly difficult.

"Maybe," she admitted herself, "I wonder what the people at school will be like, I didn't see anyone that's going on the trip in the alley."

"Well, I've only met one other person, his name was Draco Malfoy and he got real close to getting on my 'people I dislike list'," he admitted with a grin.

"What was he like?" the question was obvious and he decided to state it as simply as possible.

"A pampered prince that thinks he's better than everyone else because of his heritage," the way Rachael rolled her eyes at that made it clear she thought the same thing he did about people like that.

"So an idiot then," the fact she was prepared to state it in the bluntest manner possible only made him grin.

"Yeah," he felt he should also tell her another thing that would make her day, "you should've seen his face when he found out I wasn't a muggleborn but _the_ Harry Potter."

From the grin that adorned her face at that statement, it was clear she was fully imagining a boy of about their age wearing the same sort of face Dudley and his gang wore whenever they realised they had just given Harry a reason to break them… again.

The fact that he was famous had also caused a bit of surprise amongst the family as well, though Rachael seemed to find the fact that she was the best friend of a celebrity worth chewing him out for due to not letting her know.

She had also convinced him to practice writing autographs just in case anyone asked for one.

He idly noted the frown that crept upon the face of Rachael's mother in the wing mirror… he knew they didn't approve of it when he clearly took satisfaction in the suffering of certain others and probably only tolerated it because he only showed it when dealing with people on that very small list of people he disliked.

The fact that they decided to tolerate him just showed how desperate they were for their daughter to have a friend.

XXX XXX XXX

Eventually they managed to get through the London traffic and reach Kings Cross Station.

The fact that McGonagall had informed them that in order to get onto Platform nine and three quarters they had to walk through the barrier between platforms nine and ten… and that muggles couldn't get through the barrier.

"You two had better take care of yourselves," Harry found himself nearly rolling his eyes at the woman's demand, "and Rachael, make sure Harry eats properly, you know what he's like with food."

"Yes mum," she sounded just as exasperated as he felt, "he'll eat three meals a day and end up as fat as his cousin by the year's end!"

The frowns that appeared on the two adults faces was clear to everyone that could see them.

"Rachael… I am not going to become anywhere near as wide as the baby whale," he responded, earning even deeper frowns from the adults, "anyway, I'll see you whenever I next see you, and do you remember how to use my owl?"

"Just tie a letter to its leg, it's not that hard to remember," the older male stated bluntly and with an obvious tone of annoyance that he was being questioned about something as obvious as that.

"Bye mum, dad," and with a final hug with her parents, Rachael prepared herself to go through the entrance while Harry easily pushed the trolley through the metal barrier.

The sight that greeted him made him wonder if the wizards had any idea what the word 'modern' meant.

A bright red steam engine was stationed at the platform, the fact that it was a steam engine instead of a more standard electrical one was explained by the fact that electronics didn't work properly around large concentrations of magic… but the fact they never bothered to figure out a way of making them work together was annoying as far as he was concerned.

And given the wizarding worlds apparent phobia of anything modern, he wasn't surprised that the goblins decided it wouldn't be good business to invest in figuring it out.

"Woah," apparently his opinion wasn't shared by his companion, "I can't believe they've managed to hide something like this from everyone."

Or maybe it was due to the fact that they hadn't been discovered yet.

"Well, are you coming, we want to find a compartment with room for both of us right?" he said out to her, earning a nod of affirmation as she rushed up beside him.

Getting onto the train wasn't too hard, it wasn't due to leave for another half an hour so they would have plenty of time to get settled in and in the end, it didn't take long for them to find a completely empty compartment.

"I can't wait to get there, I wonder what it's like," that was what Rachael said as soon as they had finished putting their trunks in the luggage racks and had gotten sat down.

"It's a castle," he decided to tell her, knowing that she wouldn't have bothered with reading the book about the school itself, "there are supposed to be several ghosts floating around, the layout is supposed to change on a whim, there are hundreds of secret passageways as well as some walls that pretend to be doors."

The look of surprise that appeared on her face was clear to him and he knew what she was about to ask and decided to just answer before she asked, "I read it in Hogwarts: A History… and had it confirmed by Elisheva."

"I still can't believe you have a pet angel… and succubus," the pout she wore upon saying that was proof that letting her know about his other minions had definitely been taken to heart.

"Technically, Moana is a Lilim, not a succubus," he decided to point out that small technicality, knowing that despite that, she would probably fit under the classification of succubus perfectly.

"They're basically the same thing," his first friend stated bluntly, earning a shrug off the young demon.

"But they're not exactly the same thing," he retorted with a grin before pulling out the latest comic he had bought.

He wasn't surprised when she moved to read over his shoulder, it was one of their 'rituals' as he supposed he could call it… they would both read their newest comics together, with it usually being Rachael that had bought them due to her parents being prepared to spend more money on her than his aunt and uncle were with him.

And so they started wasting their time away until the train left.

XXX XXX XXX

Ronald Weasley had no idea what he was going to do.

He'd just managed to make it on the train before it left, his entire family had a ritual of arriving at the last minute, he idly wondered if it was his parents way of stopping them from worrying about sitting alone or waiting for friends, since they were almost always the last to arrive everyone they knew would already be there.

But he didn't _know_ anyone.

Sure he knew _of_ other children his age, like that slimy snake Malfoy, or the far more decent Neville Longbottom, but he'd never actually _met_ any of them.

They have run into each other now and then but that wasn't the same as spending time with and getting to know them.

And so here he was, in the corridor of the Hogwarts Express, his luggage trailing behind him as he wondered what he should do.

There would probably be free compartments littered over the place and he knew his brothers would already be in some with their friends… but he wanted to get some time _away_ from his brothers, Fred and George were always making a fool out of him and Percy was just such a stick in the mud that they couldn't get along.

The thought of finding an empty compartment to stay in wasn't much better and would just reinforce the fact that he wasn't part of any social circles.

Sometimes he hated how his parents refused to get involved in politics.

Then he'd remember that politics was the game of the Malfoy's and immediately come to the conclusion that it was better that way.

But that didn't change the dilemma he was facing, of what he could do about finding a cabin.

So he mustered up all the courage he could and knocked on the door of a compartment before opening it and looking inside.

He was immediately greeted by the sight of two people about his age, one a boy with messy black hair and amber yellow eyes that was looking at him with a raised eyebrow, while the other was a girl with frizzy, dark brown hair and rather plain brown eyes.

What really caught his attention though was how close the two seemed to be sitting together and that they were clearly reading something together… it didn't take long for his mind to jump to conclusions.

"Uh… sorry, didn't mean to interrupt," it was the first thing to leave his mouth as he proceeded to leave the two alone, however he stopped upon hearing the boy speak.

"You a first year too?" the question held no malice, no irritation or anything else the red headed boy could recognise, honestly it was as if the boy didn't care that he'd just been interrupted spending time with what was clearly his girlfriend.

"Uh, yeah," he answer hesitantly, earning a bit of a grin from the amber eyed boy.

"Well then, why don't you come on in," Ron couldn't stop himself from gawking, especially when the girl started to laugh at him.

"B-but what about your girlfriend?" he blurted out in shock, earning a raised eyebrow from the boy before he looked at the frizzy haired girl.

"Rachael… would you say we were boyfriend and girlfriend?" Ron couldn't stop himself from gawking even more at that, though he felt that his jaw was going to fall off at the girls response.

"I… don't know?" she sounded completely flummoxed by the question, "I've never really thought about it myself."

"So, how should we answer if anyone else asks?" the second youngest Weasley really couldn't understand what he was seeing right then, two kids, talking about their relationship as if neither of them knew what was actually going on.

"Uh… how about no?" her answer was definitely phrased as a question, but the shrug of the messy haired boys shoulders was enough to let him know that they'd decided.

"Alright then," and with that the amber eyed boy faced him again, "she's not my girlfriend, just my childhood friend."

And with that Ron found himself coming to another conclusion, that the two people he had just met were probably some of the closest 'childhood friends' he'd ever seen.

"So, are you going to take a seat?" and with that question from the other boy, Ron found himself once again feeling out of place, but then again, he was getting to meet a pair of other first years so they would probably speak again sooner or later.

So he took a seat opposite the two and tried to divert his attention from their closeness and how out of place it made him feel, which ended up with him noting the thin, small magazine like thing in their hands.

"What's that you're reading?" he decided to ask, hoping that it would help him feel less uncomfortable, though given the look of shock that appeared on the girls face, it was probably the worst thing he could do towards that goal.

"It's a comic," the incredulous tone in her voice was enough to let him know that the girl thought he was an idiot for not knowing what they were reading.

"You mean like those in the newspapers?" he found himself wondering if he had said something wrong when the girls mouth just opened as she stared at him in shock.

"Rachael, do you remember what century the wizarding world is stuck in?" the yellow eyed boy asked her with a grin.

"Uh… like the fifteenth or something?" Ron found himself starting to see red at the way they were insulting the very world he had grown up in.

"More like the nineteenth if they have steam trains, but the fact is that comics weren't really around until world war two," the boy stated with a grin, "so I'm not surprised they don't have them… plus they have moving and talking pictures, comics wouldn't really work here."

"Huh? Don't you mean they have movies?" Ron found himself frowning at that word, he remembered hearing it somewhere before but he'd never really paid much attention to muggle things, they were always more of his dad's thing after all.

"Nope, I mean that their regular pictures, like photos, paintings and all that, move, think, talk and even go to other frames if they're bored," Ron didn't know what the boy was saying something like that for, everyone knew that pictures moved, it's not like they could just stay still all day.

"Are you serious?" the way the girl's eyes narrowed told him that she was paying extra attention to the other boy, who simply nodded in response, "I think I'll be keeping my family photo in my trunk."

And then Ron found himself once again feeling out of the loop.

"Uh… anyway, I'm Ron," he decided that simply going for introductions was probably the only thing he could think of that wouldn't cause some immense sort of trouble, "Ron Weasley."

"I'm Rachael Jones," the girl replied easily before the boy grinned.

"Harry Potter," and with that, Ron found his eyes drawn to the boy's forehead, his eyes widening as he finally noticed the lightning bolt scar that had been mostly obscured by a lock of dark hair.

"Y-you're really Harry Potter?" he couldn't believe it, out of all the compartments he could've found himself in, he had somehow managed to end up in the one with The-Boy-Who-Lived himself!

"Yes, I definitely am a Harry Potter… and judging by what that Hagrid guy and Professor McGonagall said, I'm most likely the same one you're thinking about," the boy admitted with a shrug, though Ron found himself frowning in confusion.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked, earning a chuckle from the dark haired boy and another incredulous expression from the girl.

"You wizards really are out of touch with the mundane folk aren't you?" Ron found himself flushing at that but the boy carried on, "but the thing is that in the muggle world, both Harry and Potter are common names, I could've easily been a muggleborn with the same name and you wouldn't have been any wiser about it."

The red head found himself gawking in disbelief, Potter was an ancient wizarding family, believed to be descended from Gryffindor himself! There is no way it could be a common name among muggles!

"But seriously, Potter may be considered one of the wizarding world's oldest families, but in the muggle world, it simply means that one of their ancestors made pots," Ron couldn't stop himself from gawking despite how much he tried, the thought that the name was apparently so common simply blew his mind.

"So, what house are you hoping to get sorted into?" Ron finally asked, wondering what the two who were with him were like.

"Well, after everything Harry told me about them, I'd have to say Gryffindor," the girl stated with a toothy smile, "the house of courage sure has a nice ring to it doesn't it?"

"Yeah, my family has been there since… well forever," he admitted, "just hope I make it… don't think I'd ever live down being the first Weasley that wasn't in it."

"So what?" he jerked his head to face the famous figure that had just dismissed his concerns concerning which house he would end up in, "it's not like there is a bad house."

"What do you mean by that? Haven't you heard anything about Slytherin?" he asked, earning a sigh off the messy haired boy, "they're all dark wizards!"

"No, not all Slytherin are Dark Wizards," Harry said that with an air of exasperation but Ron didn't care, he was about to open his mouth when the boy continued, "just look at Merlin, one of the main supporters of muggle rights and a Slytherin through and through."

The ginger haired boy flinched at that statement, it was somewhat of a sore point with the rest of the houses after all.

"B-but only Slytherin's are dark!" Ron didn't know what else to do, the boy before him was standing up for Slytherin's! Out of everyone _the_ Harry Potter should be rallying them against the Slytherin's, not standing up for them!

"Sirius Black was a Gryffindor," he couldn't stop the flinch from showing, Sirius Black was a point of shame amongst those affiliated with the light.

"From a long line of Slytherin's!" the red head tried to justify himself, it made perfect sense to him after all, the man had clearly managed to trick the hat into sorting him into Gryffindor so he could get close enough to stab the light in the back.

"But the fact remains that he was sorted into Gryffindor," the smirk that adorned the wizarding saviours face told him that his point was failing to get through to the boy that he had heard was raised by muggles, "in the end, every house favours different traits, and not one of them favours light or dark, it is just that since Slytherin favours those with ambition and cunning, they tend to succeed while those of other houses fail."

"What about Hufflepuff then?" he tried to reason with the boy that not every house could result in a dark wizard.

"What happens when someone is loyal to someone who others want to harm?" he blinked at that question, he didn't understand what the Boy-Who-Lived was asking, "they can put that person above the others and inflict serious harm on those trying to harm the object of their loyalty."

Ron found himself flinching at that explanation, having it explained to him like that made it clear that the other boy had _somehow_ managed to find a way for a Hufflepuff to be dark.

"What about Ravenclaw then?" he once again found himself feeling out of place upon seeing the girl gawk at him.

"Are you serious?! Even I know how they can go dark!" he was once again left gawking at that but didn't get a chance to respond that time.

"Look, the fact is that every house has good points and bad points, they each have the potential to produce dark wizards and each have the potential to produce light wizards," Harry seemed like he was getting bored of their conversation and was clearly trying to end it, "now I'm not saying that you shouldn't hate members of Slytherin… just make sure you don't hate them _because_ they're in Slytherin."

He couldn't stop himself from frowning, the fact that someone was in Slytherin was always something he had been told meant they were dark, the fact that it was a house that supported blood-purity was proof of that. Only dark wizards considered muggleborns lower than dirt.

"So what, are you saying that I should get all cosy with a bunch of snakes?" he spat out, he was definitely beginning to feel that the other boy was trying to get him to socialize with dark wizards.

"No, I'm just saying that you shouldn't immediately hate them without knowing them," that response was said with a shrug, "if you don't want to talk to any of them then feel free to ignore them all… just don't harass them unless they pick a fight with you first."

That explanation finally dug into his head, it was something he was more than willing to do if he was honest with himself, he would much rather just ignore most of the Slytherin's after all.

They simply weren't worth his time.

"Yeah, I can do that," and with that response, Harry Potter gave a grin.

"Good to know."

XXX XXX XXX

Time after that passed slowly for Harry as he simply listened to Rachael quiz Ron about wizarding life.

He had read a lot concerning the wizarding world and its society but he hadn't really gotten a chance to listen to a full on wizard talk about everything to do with them.

The fact that the red head seemed to be obsessed with that Quidditch sport they had helped him further cement his opinion that it was basically the football of the wizarding world.

And then there was a light rap on the door before it opened.

"Anything off the trolley dears?" he noted that the woman was pushing a trolley of snacks and decided to respond upon seeing the expectant look on his first friends face.

"Yes please," and with that he walked up to the snack trolley and picked up several of every snack before paying for it all with plenty of money left to spare.

He walked over to an empty seat and dumped it all there before returning to his corner.

"Thanks Harry!" and with that Rachael started picking out some of the treats while Ron looked on in confusion.

"I don't like sweets," he answered the unasked question, earning a look of shock off the other boy.

"You mean you don't like food at all right?" he simply rolled his eyes at Rachael's more honest description of him and his eating habits.

"What do you mean don't like food at all?" the freckled boy asked in further confusion.

"My mum has to practically force feed him to make him eat _anything_ … and he's still got muscles," that last part was said with a grin, earning a sigh off the messy haired demon.

"You'd hate living with my mum then, she makes us eat _everything_ on our plates," Ron stated with an exasperated sigh.

"Well, now I see what you mean by moving pictures," Harry simply grinned as he noticed how she now had a collectable card in her hand and the picture had obviously moved right in front of her eyes.

"Told ya so… now just imagine how boring it would be for them to have to hold the same punching pose all the time," he said with a grin adorning his face.

"I guess you're right… but damn it would be cool if they were like a movie," her response was just what he expected.

Then there was another knock on the door before it opened to reveal a round faced boy who was practically crying his eyes out.

"Sorry, but have you seen a toad anywhere?" the boy was rather composed despite his obvious problems.

"Nope, sorry," and with that Harry decided to simply pull out a book he had gotten on his first trip to Diagon Alley, 'the monster book of monsters', the fact that it had been held in a cage and kept separate from everything else had made Harry interested in it… and it was one of the few books Hagrid was actually _happy_ about him buying.

Stupid thing never tried to bite him again after that first meeting.

"I've lost him, he keeps getting away from me!" the round faced boy cried out, earning an exasperated sigh off the demon.

"Ask a senior, they might know a way of finding the damn thing," he decided to give the boy some pointers, the fact that he had already read up on a charm that apparently called an object to the caster helped with the suggestion but he had never learned the spell himself.

"T-thank you," and with that the boy left, closing the door easily before darting down the corridor.

"Don't know why he's so upset about it, if I brought a toad I'd lose it as quick as I could," Ron said, "mind you, I've got Scabbers so I can't really talk."

And then Harry found his attention pulled from his book.

It was a fat rat that was quietly snoozing, or at least it looked like one.

But it had _human_ magic, it had _human_ Magutsuhi.

That rat wasn't a rat, but a human pretending to be a rat, of that he was sure.

He had read about them, Animagi, witches and wizards that could become animals, the fact that one was acting as the pet of this boy was probably going to be troublesome.

Still, at least he had a nearby snack for if he ever felt peckish.

"Hey Ron, can I see your rat?" he asked, gaining a shrug in response before the rodent was handed to him, its eyes opening in indication of being jostled awake.

And then Harry whispered something into its ear…

"I know what you are… little animagi," he could feel the rodent squirm in his hand and the taste of its magatsuhi changing to that of fear…

And that was his favourite taste.


	12. Chapter 12

Harry found himself once again letting out a sigh as he noted the half giant that had proven himself to be a little too overbearing for him to truly get along with.

Sure he had acted amicably towards the ludicrously large man but it didn't change the fact that he wasn't particularly happy to see him again.

Thankfully the man seemed more focused on making sure the entire first year body made it to the boats that would take them across the lake towards the school… he wondered if they were trying to go for the same 'overwhelm them with spectacle' philosophy that Diagon Alley had.

He ended up getting into the same boat as Rachael, Ron and that round faced boy from the train, who introduced himself as Neville Longbottom.

The trip across the lake was rather dull as far as Harry was concerned, though given how others reacted to the sight of the castle, he suspected he was once again being corrupted by the sight of the Vortex World and how much of a spectacle seeing the other side of the world _in the sky_ was.

Eventually though, they docked into a cave under the castle itself before being led up a set of stairs before Hagrid pounded on the door.

Immediately the door swung open to reveal Professor McGonagall, dressed in emerald green robes that Harry thought looked rather garish, probably because they didn't go particularly well with her stern expression and serious demeanour… if they were resized for Titania then they would probably be far more natural looking, but then again, Titania had the advantage of having a calm and kind demeanour.

"The firs-years, Professor McGonagall," Hagrid said in his usual booming voice.

"Thank you Hagrid, I will take them from here," and with that the woman opened the doors wide to reveal a large hall, one that was bigger than any of the homes he usually saw, before leading them through to a much smaller chamber.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," she stated with her sternness still present, "the start of term banquet will begin shortly," Harry found himself sinking at that statement, he really didn't want to have to eat a _freaking banquet!_ "but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses."

"The Sorting is a very important ceremony as while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts," Harry had to stop himself from pointing out that he hated his family, since it would probably just cause them to waste even more time, "you will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitories and spend any free time in your house's common room."

Then she started explaining the house names and rule system, that wasn't really something he cared about, he'd read up on it enough beforehand to be capable of tuning out the explanation.

"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school, I suggest you all smarten yourselves up before then," and with a look of condescension thrown towards certain people, Ron included, she left them to get ready with a simple instruction, "I shall return when we are ready for you, please wait quietly."

"How do they sort us anyway?" Rachael asked, earning a sigh off Harry.

"Some sort of test I think, Fred said it hurts a lot but I think he was joking," the red headed boy said, completely ignoring the dirt on his nose.

Harry for his part simply shrugged, he doubted they'd throw them against something like Matador without training which in turn meant, he was seriously doubting whatever it was would hurt him anywhere near as badly as he was back then.

The fact that he had still managed to carry on with a sword stuck in him and most of the bones in his body feeling like they would give way after just one more of those force attacks meant he didn't doubt he wouldn't have any problems with whatever they would ask of him.

He soon found himself looking behind as he noted the way several people were screaming before noting the presence of several ghosts… which he promptly ignored, he'd seen plenty of them in Ginza so it wasn't really a surprise to see them here and since they weren't attacking anyone, they weren't a problem.

It took a while but eventually McGonagall returned and shooed the ghosts away before ordering them to line up before leading them out of the entrance hall and into the Great Hall itself.

And yet again Harry found himself incapable of being impressed by the place, sure the fact that he could see the night sky through the ceiling was a nice touch but that was pretty much it.

Though the candles floating around almost made him think of Will-O-Wisps.

And as Professor McGonagall brought forth a stool and a ratty old hat, Harry noted that there was definitely magic in the object.

And then it started to sing.

XXX XXX XXX

Albus Dumbledore internally laughed upon hearing the Sorting Hats' newest song, it was always such a please to hear how it would tweak things to create a new song that he had never heard before… he suspected that the hat _had_ used it before but that would've been a year when he wasn't at Hogwarts.

And then the moment of truth arrived, the Sorting of the first years.

He noted the way the children would nearly stumble towards the stool as their nerves got the better of them, before putting on the hat and having it shout the name of their house before the hall would burst into applause and they would make their way towards the appropriate table.

"Greengrass, Daphne," a young blonde girl walked up with an air of confidence, though for someone as old and experienced as him, it was clearly bravado as opposed to genuine confidence, "Slytherin!"

It wasn't really much of a surprise for him that a Greengrass would be sorted into Slytherin, they were one of those old families that focused on pureblood values, though they chose not to side with Voldemort during the wizarding war due to the fact that they were smart enough to realise that the wizarding families were dying out and they needed the muggleborns to… fill out the gaps the Purebloods couldn't fill.

But that wasn't worth thinking about, next in line would be the young mister Longbottom, hopefully he would turn out like his parents and join Gryfin, "Jones, Rachael!"

Wait? What?

When a young girl with frizzy hair walked forward he could do nothing more than stare as his brain processed one simple fact.

Neville Longbottom was directly after Daphne Greengrass on the list.

But this girl was clearly between them.

She wasn't supposed to be there.

She was a distortion in reality.

The only way that could've happened was if…

She was the one that signed a demonic contract nearly a month ago.

He focused on the girl, if she had sold her soul to a demon then it would most likely be that the house she would enter would be Slytherin.

It wasn't guaranteed though, he wasn't sure what she had wished for but it was likely it would have been power of some kind, otherwise she would've been on the list of new students like the rest had _before_ the distortion in reality.

He still remembered the contract he made when he was younger, he had been skilled and powerful but there was one simple little problem… Gellert Grindelwald had been a master of the mind arts, too powerful for him to defeat without a little help… and then he had found a phoenix. The bird had been powerful, so powerful that he couldn't truly fathom it's limits… but it hadn't been prepared to help without something in return, so in exchange for the ability to see through all falsehoods, he had in a desperate attempt at stopping the madman, sold his soul.

But the demon wasn't corrupt, instead of simply leaving him, it had left a single feather with him… that feather had transformed into a magical creature that had been with him ever since… his pet phoenix, Fawkes.

Fawkes had possessed barely any power compared to the original but even that miniscule fraction possessed enough power to break through the wards of Hogwarts and transport itself and others in a burst of flames.

But that was normal, demons were far more powerful than humans and even regular magical beasts after all.

In the end though, that ability to see through all falsehoods extended to changes in the world itself, for example, he could identify a transfigured object and what it was before being transfigured with but a glance.

And it had allowed him to resist the influence the universe put on him nearly a month ago.

So here he was, looking at a girl that shouldn't be there, currently sitting on the stool with the Sorting Hat on her head. The fact was that he couldn't really do anything about her, she was already inserted into history itself and as such, he would never be capable of proving that she shouldn't be there as she always _was_ supposed to be there.

Time seemed to pass by slowly for him as he waited, noting that she was taking longer than most of the others up to that point.

"Gryffindor!" and with that yell, Dumbledore found himself internally frowning, he hadn't been expecting the girl to be Sorted into Gryffindor but given the sheer excitement that appeared to be on her face, it was clear she was definitely enthusiastic about going to the house of courage.

And that enthusiasm was definitely genuine, so it probably meant that she hadn't signed a contract for any malicious reasons… but because she was either reckless and didn't think it through, or needed that power for some reason.

Looking at her now, he was fully expecting it to be the first option.

"Longbottom, Neville!" and with that, the Sorting carried on like nothing had happened, which for them, nothing _had_ happened, it was only him and that girl that knew the truth about her status there.

Eventually though, it reached the one person that was stuck in his mind more often than anyone else.

"Potter, Harry!" and then he noted the amber eyed boy walking towards the stool… and then his mind froze.

He couldn't read him.

It was like the boy wasn't even there.

He had been capable of seeing that the boy wasn't wearing contact lenses but that was it.

He walked with a calm confidence that told everyone he either already knew which house he was going into, or didn't care… but Dumbledore couldn't tell if it was genuine confidence or faked bravado as he sat on the stool and had the hat placed over his head as the hall fell silent.

XXX XXX XXX

Harry nearly yawned as the Sorting Hat was placed on his head.

This was rather boring really.

He had hoped that the test would be something difficult, like beating a Troll or something, the fact that Elisheva informed him that most magical creatures in this world _weren't_ demons but simply regular animals that developed magical capabilities and evolved around them.

So a wizarding world mountain troll was nothing compared to the Trolls that stalked Yoyogi park.

Of course, there was the possibility of exceptions but that was the general rule.

 _"Well, this certainly is interesting,"_ a voice resounded through his head, _"I've never had the pleasure of Sorting a demon before."_

And the chances were it never would again.

 _"Too true,"_ it admitted towards his thought, _"I certainly was surprised to find out that you were a honest to goodness demon from your friends mind but given what I saw there and what I'm seeing here… I don't think there is an issue."_

Honestly he never thought it was an issue in the first place, it was just that the Goblins had told him it was that he wasn't introducing himself as Harry Potter of the Fiend Clan.

 _"And that is another reason I don't think you'll be a problem,"_ the hat responded, _"now how is it best to describe you?"_

 _"Yes, this sounds about right… you don't care much for others but if they get close to you then you would fight gods for them, you are capable of ignoring whatever fear you may be feeling if things are going terribly but you lack honour… you study regularly but only because you'd grow bored if you didn't… and lastly, you are ambitious enough to want to kill a demon that even gods tremble before and have the cunning needed to win your conflicts,"_ Harry simply sat and listened to the hats description of him, silently acknowledging everything it said.

 _"You don't understand racism or sexism, but are more than happy to terrorize those you dislike…"_ the hat continued before anything else was said, _"so I guess the best place for you is…"_

"Slytherin!" and then the Great Hall grew silent as Harry removed the hat and made his way to the sea of green.

XXX XXX XXX

Albus Dumbledore found his heart sinking.

Harry Potter had been sorted into the house of snakes.

The ultimate symbol of the light had been sorted into the den of darkness.

Normally he wouldn't be concerned about that, if Harry had been what he expected him to be then he may have very well been sorted into Slytherin anyway.

The problem was what he had seen of Hagrid's memories and the boys own lack of… truth.

The fact that boy was now walking towards the Slytherin Table without any indication he was in any way upset with the conclusion of his sorting only made his heart sink even lower.

His fears that Harry had gone dark had only grown since that day he watched Hagrid's memories.

XXX XXX XXX

Harry wasn't surprised at the cool atmosphere that permeated the Slytherin table as he took a seat, he had read up on it after all and he had been expected to go into Gryffindor.

But definitely not Slytherin.

Not that he really cared, it wasn't like he was going to let it change anything about him, such as how he was still going to hang out with Rachael and read lots when he wasn't sleeping when he should.

The others at the table all seemed to be more focused on him than the rest of the sorting.

Which didn't take much longer.

"Welcome!" he noted the way everyone seemed drawn towards the…

His mind blanked out.

WHAT IN AMALA WAS THAT GANDALF WEARING?!

It had to be the most ludicrous set of wizard robes he had ever seen and completely ruined the man's demeanour as a great wizard.

If it wasn't for them he would definitely fit the bill of the wanderer but as it stood… just looking at the man made him feel like he'd just been shoved in a blender and spun around for several hours.

"Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet I would like to say a few words and they are Nitwit, Blubber, Oddment, Tweak! Thank you," and with that the failed Gandalf sat back down and food appeared on the tables and everyone started to shovel food onto their plates and start eating.

"What in Amala is he wearing?" Harry asked one of the older students that wasn't particularly far from him.

That question seemed to make everyone else glance around in discomfort, even the older students seemed confused at his question.

"Sorry, I mean 'what the hell is he wearing?'," he decided to rephrase his question given how out of everyone he knew in the human world, only he, Jiao, Moana, Elisheva and Rachael had any idea what Amala was.

"My father told me that he wasn't right in the head?" Malfoy spoke up, clearly uncertain if that was the appropriate answer to the question.

"I guess it would make sense," he admitted before shrugging his shoulders, "by that age most people would be going senile."

That seemed to throw the rest of the table for a loop.

"So you're not going to sympathise with the headmaster?" the blonde girl who was sorted before Rachael asked, earning a shrug off the young demon.

"I don't even know the guy so why would I care what he thinks?" his question was perfectly valid in his mind but seemed to cause even more confusion to spread through the table.

"So you don't care about what happens to mudbloods?" Draco decided to ask with a hint of hesitation in his tone.

"If you want to know about my feelings on everything," Harry decided to just let everyone know how he worked, "I have three lists, 'people I like', 'people I dislike' and 'everyone else'."

That seemed to get everyones attention.

"If you are on my 'people I like' list, then we're good," he said simply, "if you are on the 'people I dislike' list… well, then you'll suffer, as for everyone else… I couldn't give two shits about them."

That last part seemed to throw everyone off as they all started looking at each other with raised eyebrows.

"I have a question for you," a dark haired girl that was sorted near the beginning said with a grin, "are you planning on just sitting there or are you going to actually eat something?"

Her smirk vanished when he answered.

"Pretty much, I had breakfast this morning and I'm not a big eater," plus he could still taste the Magatsuhi of that man pretending to be a rat and the taste was making him even less enthusiastic about eating mortal food.

And once again he found everyone just staring at him.

"It sounds like me that you're scared," one of the older students stated with a vicious smirk on his face, "what is it? Afraid we'll poison you?"

"Are you saying you plan on poisoning me?" he decided to ask with a small smirk of his own.

"Maybe, you'll find out when you eat won't you?" he older boy said with a cruel grin adorning his face.

It was a shame for him that Harry had faced much more threatening beings than a mere wizard.

"Perhaps… but then again, what makes you think you're safe from _me_?" he decided to just leave it at that, though judging by the older boys expression, his grin was probably unnerving enough that he had managed to get his point across.

Eventually the banquet came to an end with Harry not touching a single morsel of food, though he had managed to strike up a rather interesting conversation with 'The Bloody Baron' as he was known in Hogwarts, though he avoided the obvious topic of why he was covered in blood due to the fact that it was probably something to do with his death and he felt it wasn't polite to ask something about that.

"Ahem," and the school fell silent as Dumbledore stood and prepared himself for his post-feast speech, "just a few more words now we are all fed and watered. I have a few start of term notices to give you."

"First years should note that the forest in the grounds is forbidden to all pupils… and a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well," at that statement, the old man looked over towards the Gryffindor table though Harry didn't know who he was looking at in particular.

"I have also been asked by Mr Filch, the caretaker, to remind you that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors," the old man looked over all of them before his eyes stopped on Harry and the twinkling died a little, "Quidditch Trails will be held in the second week of term, anyone interested in playing for their house team should contact Madam Hooch."

"And finally I must tell you that this year, the third floor corridor on the right hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death," and with that, Harry found himself raising an eyebrow and making a decision… he would definitely be going there tonight, "and now before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!"

And with a wave of his wand, a set of golden lyrics appeared floating in the air, "everyone pick their favourite tune… and off we go!"

Harry could do little more than blink in disbelief at the first line… seriously, _Hoggy Warty Hogwarts_?

The worst part however was how practically three quarters of the hall were _actually singing the damned thing_ , and all to different tunes that turned it into a cacophony that made even Vernon Dursley's singing sound like a professional musician.

He idly noted that most of the Slytherins were _pretending_ to sing along and those that weren't were simply holding their heads in their hands in what he could only describe as shame.

When the song was finally over and the headmaster had dismissed them all, Harry turned to the other students in his house and asked the one question on his mind.

"That song only gets sung once a year right?" he received a pained grimace from one of the older students who hadn't been too bothered by his presence earlier.

"Unfortunately yes," the older girl grimaced, "I've never understood why he insists on that horrible noise."

"Well… if it's only once a year then I suppose I won't have to kill him," he admitted quietly, earning several chokes of surprise from his housemates.

"I guess this goes to prove that you aren't one of Dumbledore's stooges," the blonde from before said with a calm air to herself.

"Like I said, I never met the guy," and with that they proceeded to leave the hall, the newly sorted first years trailing behind one of the older students downwards towards the dungeons.

"I'd advise that you eat something tomorrow," the older girl from before said, earning a shrug from him, "if you don't then you might not make it through the rest of the day."

"I'll manage," he answered with a grin.

"Look, if you're afraid of Flint poisoning you then don't be, he couldn't brew a first year potion if his life depended on it," she said, earning a few blinks off the demonic child.

"Well that is a handy piece of information but it doesn't change the fact that I just don't like eating," the messy haired boy said with a hint of amusement in his voice.

"You will have to eat sooner or later," she tried to reason with him only for him to shrug his shoulders in response.

"We'll just have to see about that won't we," and with that the conversation was left without any clear winner… though Harry knew he would win any bet on if they would see him eating, he could tell from the sheer concentration of Magatsuhi in the castle that he wouldn't have to eat at all while he was there.

That is provided Rachael didn't decide to force feed him.

Sure he could overpower her but he didn't want to risk hurting her so he tended to be much more gentle with her than he was with most others.

Eventually they made it to a brick wall that one of the prefects stopped before, "Veni Vidi Vici is the password now," the prefect stated, causing the wall to open up to reveal a large room with a low ceiling and a large fireplace and a green theme.

And then he felt a hand coming from behind to latch onto his shoulder.

It didn't get a chance to.

"You know, I haven't really had a chance to set the pecking order yet have I?" he asked with a satisfied smile as he watched the man he now knew was called Flint fall to his knees as he tightened slightly around the older teens wrist, "there is me, right there at the top, directly below me is my best friend in Gryffindor… below her, is the headmaster, then the other teachers, then the ghosts… then the caretaker, the caretakers cat and finally, there is every student outside of me and my best friend… are we clear?"

He hadn't originally been planning on strong arming them like that but the fact remained that they were all clearly thinking he was some helpless little weakling and trying to intimidate him and make him feel uncomfortable.. he was just going to break it to them that they were _nothing_ to him.

"Screw… you," the teen he was gripping the wrist of said as he pulled out his wand and moved to point it at him.

And then there was a sickening crack and Flint screamed in pain before falling to the floor.

XXX XXX XXX

Draco Malfoy couldn't believe his eyes.

Or his ears.

The Harry Potter had just _broken_ Marcus Flints wrist and then simply crushed his _other_ hand under his foot.

Then the other older students pulled out their own wands and started to cast spells at the amber eyed first year.

The most they hit was Flint as the older teen was literally kicked towards a random attacker who he easily smashed into and knocked over.

Potter for his part was simply quick, efficient and easily disarmed all the older students that had decided to interfere in a matter of seconds.

But that wasn't the last of it either.

Potter wasn't simply beating them, he was _breaking their bones_ and _crushing their muscles_ … he was crippling them all the while smiling with clear sadistic enjoyment.

He now understood just what the boy meant when he had said that he didn't want to be on his 'people I don't like' list.

This was the moment he decided that picking a fight with Potter was not just foolish, it was suicidal.

"So… does anyone else want me to break them?" the dark haired boy asked, earning several shakes of the heads of the other occupants, "as for you lot… are you going to accept that I'm higher than you or do I have to break each of your ribs, heal you and then repeat the process for a few hours?"

The moans of pain that escaped everyone else made it clear that they weren't in any condition to argue with him.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't quite hear you," the clearly unconcerned tone Harry used made it clear to everyone that he didn't really care if they were in pain.

"Y… you… bastard!" Flint cried in anger... before Potter simply stamped on his leg, resulting in another horrific cracking sound and a wail of pain.

"I'm sorry, perhaps I didn't make myself clear… you are nothing more than ants, ready to be stepped on as far as I am concerned," Draco found himself shivering at the way Potter's voice didn't change in tone at all when saying that, "and I am more than happy to crush you whenever you feel the need to try and prove yourselves against me."

"F… fine, you win!" Flint screamed out, pain clear in his voice as he failed to do anything more than squirm.

"Good, now then, I suppose I should fix you lot up shouldn't I?" that question threw the scion of Malfoy for a loop, "don't want the teachers trying to get rid of me already… Dia."

And with that last word, a bright light surrounded Flint before fading and revealing that the older boy was almost as good as new.

He could do little more than look on in shock as he noted the way Flint tested his injuries, revealing to everyone that whatever Potter had done to him, it had managed to completely fix the damage done.

The fact that the messy haired boy was now working at fixing everyone he had broken up, didn't change one simple thought that popped into his head.

That Potter could torture his enemies, fix them and then torture them some more.

It was that moment that Draco decided that he would do his best to keep himself off his 'people I dislike' list.

"Do you always do that to people you dislike?" Tracey Davis asked and he found himself shivering at the answer.

"What are you talking about? They aren't on that list yet," and with a smile that would forever haunt his nightmares, the world's most vicious first year finished his answer, "they are still on the 'everyone else' list… this was simply an exercise in asserting dominance."

XXX XXX XXX

Albus Dumbledore couldn't stop himself from worrying his lip as he thought over everything he had learned from the Sorting Hat.

Absolutely nothing.

The hat wasn't compelled to tell him anything, nor was it compelled to keep anything a secret.

But he also knew that over the thousand or so years of its life, it had developed a respect for personal privacy, which is one of the reasons Tom had managed to rise as a dark lord.

Honestly, why the hat couldn't be more open was something that had annoyed him for a long time, the sheer amount of trouble that could've been avoided if it simply told him about problems before they rose would have made his life a lot easier.

The worst part was that he had two enigma's, one girl that shouldn't be a witch and the other, a boy that didn't even exist as far as his ability to sense falsehoods was concerned.

Either one was a serious problem but having both in the same year was only asking for even more trouble.

Perhaps, he would be better off dealing with Tom earlier instead of later like he planned on since the world didn't seem to be working in his favour anymore.

But he needed to test Harry, a way of determining if the boy was truly going dark and if he could be saved from whatever it was that was consuming him.

He just hoped he wasn't too late.

Then his mind focused on something he hadn't thought about.

Harry Potter shouldn't exist but did, and a witch that shouldn't be there was… was it possible?

And with that thought consuming him, he finally went to bed, praying that sleep would find him soon.


	13. Chapter 13

It was the middle of the night and Daphne Greengrass couldn't sleep.

She had originally expected Harry Potter to be sorted into Gryffindor, it was the traditional house for the Potter family after all.

If that had happened then she would most likely have scorned him just like she would scorn the Scion of Weasley.

But then the unthinkable had happened.

Harry Potter had been sorted into Slytherin and didn't seem to care one bit.

Initially she had thought he wasn't eating because he was scared, he kept denying it saying that he simply didn't like eating, it was just such a lousy excuse that she was sure everyone thought he was just trying to look brave when he was really terrified.

And then Marcus Flint had tried to strong arm him.

Within five minutes of him making that attempt at intimidation, he and seven other older students were lying on the ground, their bodies broken as Potter stood over them without even breaking a sweat.

That was when she came to the conclusion that he really wasn't scared of them, and his little speech about the pecking order only made things even more clear to everyone.

The fact that he had mentioned that his best friend was in Gryffindor wouldn't help with his popularity… but it didn't matter when he was capable of breaking everyone with ease.

It was only made even worse by the fact that he revealed that he could heal all those injuries in a matter of moments.

They couldn't go to Professor Snape about it, not when the evidence they had been brutally destroyed by the amber eyed boy was no longer there… it would take even Saint Mungo's a few days to fix the injuries they received that night.

She found herself shivering involuntarily at that thought, he could do anything he wanted to them and they wouldn't have anything to prove he had done it.

Regardless of all that though, was the simple fact that she was finding sleep unobtainable and her throat now felt parched.

And so she rose from her bed as quietly as she could before leaving for the common room to see if she could find anything to drink.

That was when she heard the sound of footsteps and froze before peering out into the common room.

It was Potter.

Her mind wandered on what he was doing there at this time but before she could come to a conclusion, he spoke up.

"Can't sleep?" the fact that his head turned to face her only acted to let her know that he knew she was there.

"It is hard to after what you did earlier," she decided to admit as she moved out to the common room in full, her emerald green night-gown blending in surprisingly well with the rest of the room, earning a non-committal shrug off the boy, "what about you?"

She wondered if he was being kept awake by the adrenaline that must have been pumping through his system after getting into a fight with eight older wizards.

"How would you like to learn a little secret," now that statement caught her interest, "my muggle aunt and uncle _hate_ magic, so when Albus Dumbledore decided that they were the best place to put me after my parents death… they tried to beat the magic out of me."

Her thoughts froze at that statement, _the_ Harry Potter had been abused by _muggles_ because the _oh so great_ Albus freakin Dumbledore thought it would be a good idea?

"They tried to starve it out of me, so my body learned to feed itself without food," he stated, causing her eyes to widen, "my body takes in energy from all around me and uses it instead of food, that ability also damaged both my need and my ability to sleep… so to put it simply, I don't need to eat or sleep anymore."

Daphne found herself only growing more shocked at his explanation, he didn't need to eat or sleep? That was just too unreal, there was no way it could be true but the expression on his face told her otherwise.

"Anyway, I'm going for a walk," she couldn't stop herself, she just had to gawk at his casual dismissal of the rules set in place by the faculty themselves, "think I'll go and see what the 'painful death' the headmaster warned us about it… I so hope it's a troll… or maybe a chimera, that would be badass."

He was planning on not just breaking curfew but also the forbidden notices on one of the corridors… ON THE FIRST FRICKIN NIGHT OF SCHOOL.?!

They hadn't even had their first class yet!

"Wait! What about the teachers?" she asked him in shock, earning a shrug off him in response.

"What about them?" and once again she found herself staring in disbelief at him, "I've already said it haven't I? As far as I'm concerned, they are easily below me on the food chain."

She just couldn't believe this boy.

How could he so easily dismiss everyone else without so much as batting an eyelash?

It was as if he just looked down on everyone else without a second thought.

But then, with the strength he had…

"You beat your relatives didn't you?" she asked, he had mentioned how they had tried to beat the magic out of him but looking at his strength and how he looked down on everyone else, it was a conclusion she found herself internally shivering over, sure his relatives might have been muggles but to use violence against your own family?

That was just sick.

"I had to learn how to heal somewhere didn't I?" the simple smile he gave her at that statement only made her shiver involuntarily… he really didn't care about anyone did he, "anyway, I've got a third floor corridor to check out, try and get some sleep, unlike me, you probably need it."

And with that statement, he turned his back on her and proceeded to leave the common room as she tried to understand the boy that had completely upturned everything she thought she knew in a single night.

XXX XXX XXX

Harry almost had to laugh as he left the Slytherin common room.

Playing off others expectations was just so much fun.

He knew he was risking it with his explanation that his magic learned to feed him without food due to being starved but hey, magic was a very fluid thing that could work in mysterious ways… so why not?

And then letting her believe he regularly beat the Dursley's was also a bit of fun, the sheer look of disgust on her face at that thought was enough to let him know that she had bought it and wasn't happy at the implications.

The fact that he only harmed them _after_ learning how to heal was left out.

Letting her believe that he learned how to heal _because_ he beat his relatives made more sense than the thought that he suddenly learned how to heal and then started _disciplining_ them when they got out of hand.

Sure he just knew that it would further increase whatever reputation he would develop as some sort of Dark Lord further, then again, he thought it would be pretty funny to see the wizards reactions to an 'evil' Harry Potter.

But none of that was particularly important, not when he had finally noticed something that made him stare blankly.

He was pretty sure it was a Will O Wisp… though the image it took was rather stupid.

"Oo… what's this?" it started to say in a grating voice, probably long practiced in the art of causing mischief, "an ickle firstie out of bed on the first night of school… we can't have tha- argh!"

"Shut up Foul before I harvest your Magatsuhi," he commanded calmly as his hand gripped the spirit by the throat. He wasn't exactly concerned about being found, he was stronger than all the others people in the school, but he would rather not have to deal with their annoyances just because one of the weakest demon's in existence decided to make a ruckus about him.

It appeared that the lesser being finally realised that it wasn't dealing with an insignificant human child like it originally thought it was… it was dealing with a superior demon.

"Or perhaps I should just harvest you anyway…" he muttered to himself, the fact was that taking Magatsuhi straight from a living being was much more efficient than drawing in the ambient emotion, and after his embarrassing display against the Matador, he was beginning to feel that taking the Magatsuhi from everyone he could would help his growth.

"W-wait!" the weakest of the demons cried out with fear lacing it's tone, then again, given how harvesting a demon's Magatsuhi caused their death, it wasn't exactly that hard to understand why it was scared, "Peeve's will keep quiet… even help you if you need… just don't kill me!"

"And what use could a Will O Wisp be to me?" he found it strange that it called itself by another name, then again, if it had haunted Hogwarts for long enough, it would probably understand the way human's were named and either made a name for itself or been given it by irritated students.

"I can distract! Yes, distract! I'm very good at distracting!" he said desperately, earning a raised eyebrow off the younger demon.

"I suppose it might save me some time here and there…" the Boy-Who-Didn't-Die-When-He-Should-Have muttered as he thought over the significantly weaker demon's statement, "though I suppose I've got another task for you."

"W-what is it?" the one that called itself Peeves asked nervously.

"My best friend just so happens to be a Gryffindor," the amber eyed boy stated calmly, "I want you to watch over her whenever I'm not around and… deter, any attempts at bullying that may be directed towards her."

That seemed to make Peeves hesitate and Harry narrowed his eyes.

"Have you already bullied her yourself?" he asked in a tone far too sweet to be sincere.

"Not so much bully… more like terrorize the ickle firsties like I normally do," Harry did little more than blink at that.

"Terrorize the first years like you normally do?" he repeated what he heard, earning a nod off the demonic spirit.

"Yes yes, I always terrorize the first years on the first day of the year! It is my ritual," the Will O Wisp stated desperately.

"You know what, forget it," the amber eyed demon finally said, "just keep an eye on my friend and do whatever I tell you and I'll forget all about this."

"Oh, thank you, thank you for your mercy," and with that, Harry released the spectral entity from his grip before turning to leave, "you won't regret it, Peeves will be the best agent of chaos you could ask for!"

"Don't call yourself an agent of chaos when you still exist within order," and with that, he continued on his way to the third floor corridor, taking care to keep track of the source of Magatsuhi he could feel lurking around the castle.

XXX XXX XXX

Harry stared.

They had a Cerberus sitting in the third floor corridor… of a school filled with squishy human children?

He silently wondered if Dumbledore was a closet serial killer like Willy Wonka.

Then the three headed dog lunged, probably due to his decision to ignore it's growling but he didn't really care.

His instincts were telling him that the dog wasn't a threat.

So he slapped the incoming maw with enough force to send it crashing into the wall next to him.

"Bad Dog," he scolded without any enthusiasm in his tone… he supposed it was more interesting than a troll but that was about it.

He was broken out of his thoughts by a whimper coming from the middle head, the one he had slapped, just before the other two heads decided to do what the first failed.

So he slapped them on their noses.

And then he let out a sigh of disappointment.

Since when was a Cerberus such a wimp?

Honestly, he had expected a seriously dangerous monster of immense power and an insatiable bloodlust after hearing about certain death… instead he got an overgrown puppy that couldn't take a little scolding.

And from the way it was now cowering away from him, it was clear that the puppy hadn't had anyone smack it for misbehaving before.

Of course, he easily noted the trapdoor in the floor but if he was honest with himself, he didn't really care what was there, he had come to see the 'certain death' part of the warning after all, what it was guarding didn't matter.

However, seeing the dog cowering like that, he found himself growing slightly annoyed.

"Alright then Fido," he said in a no nonsense tone, "if that is how you react to a light slap, then I guess I'm going to have to train you to be more confident!"

There was no way in Amala he was going to leave a giant three headed guard dog a wimp.

And so he started his first attempt to training the puppy.

XXX XXX XXX

Eventually after about an hour, he gave up on trying to teach the dog for the night, he had other things to attend to after all and it wasn't like he wouldn't go back the next day.

But for now, he had a girls bathroom to invade.

Given the time, he doubted anyone would be using it, so upon reaching the door, he simply opened it and walked in easily.

"Who's there?" he stopped in surprise, he had most certainly _not_ expected someone to be using it… that is until he looked towards the stalls and saw a ghost float out of one of them, "wait! What's a boy doing in here?!"

"Well, I was planning on accessing the secret room hidden here," he admitted with a shrug, "but I wasn't expecting to see anyone else here… so what are you doing here? I'm pretty sure ghosts don't need to use the toilet."

"Oh me? I died here," she said chirpily, apparently happy with the fact that she got to say it.

"Would that have been about fifty years ago or so?" he decided to ask, remembering what Elisheva had said about a girl dying in the toilet because of the Basilisk.

"How do you know that?" she definitely sounded surprised at his knowledge so he just shrug.

"An Angel told me," the amber eyed demon stated without any inflection, "anyway, if you don't mind, I want to see if this secret room is real or not."

Well, that wasn't entirely true, he didn't doubt Elisheva had told him the truth about the chamber, she had literally sold her soul to him (for a measly eighty macca at that), so she would clearly be honest with him about something like this.

And so he searched the sinks, looking for a carving of a snake on a tap, it took him less than a minute to find the correct one.

"Alright this should be it, {Open Stairs}," he hissed out the last two words out in the language of snakes, something Elisheva told him was called Parseltongue in the wizarding world.

And immediately, the sink sunk and the gap behind it widened till it was large enough for a grown man to fit through. He was slightly annoyed that it seemed to stop there but eventually gave up that emotion upon seeing the pipe reshape itself into a staircase.

"Ah, that's good," and with that, he proceeded to make his way down the passageway before he found himself getting stopped.

"Wait, you aren't seriously going down there?" the teenage ghost said with disbelief in her tone, "it looks really creepy."

"Meh, that's nothing, I was told there was a Basilisk down there," that seemed to shock her even more, "supposedly that is how you died."

"You want to go down there _knowing_ there's a Basilisk down there?" she seemed even more shocked at his willingness to enter harm's way.

"Well, it's probably asleep and locked away so I shouldn't have too much to worry about… besides, I've been practicing transfiguring mirrors so I can always do that if it wakes up," he stated with a grin.

"Mirrors?" the ghost seemed surprised at that statement.

"Well, Basilisks kill with a stare so what will happen if it stares at itself in a mirror?" he asked her simply, earning a blank look off the girl, "well, I'm going, see ya later."

And with a single wave he passed the pigtailed ghost and headed down to the Chamber in full.

The trek, for that is what it definitely was, was a long one and let him know that wherever it was, it was probably far below the castle and possibly even the lake itself.

He was rather grateful when he came across a set of doors emblazoned with two images of snakes, with eyes of emerald.

"{Open}" and with that hissed out command, the doors cracked open and fled back, revealing the Chamber within.

It was large, very large for certain, the fact that the roof was easily a hundred feet up was proof of just how far below the school he had come… though he knew that he wouldn't be anywhere close to capable of seeing it if it wasn't for his demonic eyes.

But as it was, the light green glow that surrounded the place was enough for him to see perfectly clearly.

The room was longer than it was wide and lined with large statues of serpents, before the very end was revealed to be a giant statue of some old geezer Harry had only seen on one of Rachael's chocolate frog cards… Salazar Slytherin.

"Yeah, this place seems good enough, though I'll have to get some furniture to spruce it up a bit," he muttered before looking within and finding the three he hadn't spoken to for nearly an entire day.

There were three flashes of purple lightning and Harry was immediately surrounded by his minions.

"Well, this place certainly needs a bed and kitchen," Moana said before anyone else could speak their minds.

"I don't sleep or eat," Harry stated bluntly.

"But they're perfect for kinky stuff," the dark haired demoness responded chirpily.

"Moana… at least wait until I've hit puberty," he said with a sigh.

"Then find and punch it as soon as you can," and the amber eyed boy could do little more than sigh at her demand.

"There will be no immoral activities while I am present," the blonde haired angel stated with her typical blank tone.

"You're just jealous I have the guts to get in his pants when you don't," the glare the Lilim received in response was enough to know that things were going to escalate soon.

"Alright! You two quit it!" he smirked at how they both turned to face Jiao, who despite being the smallest and least capable in a fight, had somehow managed to earn a position of authority amongst them, "there is a reason we're here in the first place or have you forgotten?"

"I've not, I'm just waiting for them to stop messing around before summoning Peaseblossom," he admitted with a shrug, the fact was that he had an invitation to have tea with Titania, he wasn't going to reign in on that offer.

The silence that occurred immediately afterwards was enough to let him know that the two human sized females were still nervous about the idea of spending more time with the queen of the Fae.

He didn't share that sentiment, the blonde queen definitely seemed far too warm and polite to be scheming, not when she could easily slaughter him with a wave of her hand.

So he had decided to trust her.

"So, is everyone ready?" he asked, earning three uncertain looks from his subordinates, "well, I'm doing it anyway."

And with that, he pulled out the cylinder he had been handed months ago and pushed his magic into it.

Immediately it started glowing red with symbols forming around it out of the Magatsuhi that was flowing from the object, before there was a large burst of red and the cylinder shattered.

"Well, I was wondering if you were ever going to summon me," a voice called out from the cloud, earning a smirk off the amber eyed child.

"Sorry for making you wait Peaseblossom, but I only arrived at Hogwarts today," he admitted with a grin.

"So, are you ready for me to set up a terminal?" the fact that the fairy with electric blue hair was instantly all business wasn't lost on him.

"What, no friendly hello's?" he asked with his arms outstretched and a quirked eyebrow.

"Nope, her majesty is both lonely _and_ has gotten into _another_ argument with the King," the long suffering tone in her voice was enough to let him know that she was clearly sick of their dysfunctional relationship.

"Do you think she could do with some time away from him?" he asked, earning a snort of amusement from the High Pixie.

"Of course, but do you have any idea how hard it is to find somewhere where she could stay away from him, keep us safe _and_ relax at the same time?" the leotard wearing girl asked rhetorically, "it practically impossible!"

"What about here?"

"…"

"…"

Silence reigned as the tiny woman stared at him in what he could only assume was honest surprise.

"Uh… is there a problem with her staying here?" he asked, causing the little Fae to shake her head slightly.

"W-well, not really, a minor increase in the power of magic around her but nothing too major…" she seemed lost as to what to actually say in response to his question, "but are you really okay with letting her into your world?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" he really didn't understand why she was making such a big deal of it, Titania had invited him into her kingdom so why was it so strange for him to invite her into his world?

"Would you be willing to let her loyal subjects stay too?" he thought the answer to that was obvious.

"Of course, why would I want to separate a Queen from her people?" he asked with a grin, earning another smile off the purple clad Fae.

"You know, I think her majesty really made the right choice in sparing you," the jovial tone the tiny woman said it in was enough to let Harry know she wasn't necessarily having a go at him but rather, just lightening her own mood.

"I'm glad you approve," and with that he was left with three still silent minions and a surprisingly happy fairy.

"Well, time to set up the terminal… it'll probably take a few hours to set it up and make sure everything is working properly, do you have anything to do until then?" her question was certainly calm and Harry found himself once again smiling at the High Pixie he knew best.

"I'll think of something," and with that, he pulled out one of the books he had bought in Knockturn Alley, '1001 Creative Ways To Curse Someone'… of course the fact that they were written down negated whatever creativity was actually involved in them, especially if many people bought it.

Now it was just a matter of waiting.

XXX XXX XXX

Harry had to admit, it had been a while since he had last gone to the Vortex World… it hadn't changed one bit.

The way the sky was littered with a vast desert littered with buildings and massive areas of cursed miasma, the way the Kagutsuchi floated at the centre of the world, the feeling of Magatsuhi in the air… it was far more familiar to him than he would like to admit.

The fact that he was currently in Yoyogi park was just something that let him feel even more at home, since it was where he spent the most time outside of the wasteland and Shinjuku medical centre.

"Are you ready to face her majesty?" the familiar pixie asked with a clear amount of nervousness in her tone.

"What do you mean?" the way she worded it wasn't exactly reassuring.

"Well, she is in a rather foul mood right now," he gulped at that, the last time they had met, she had seemed to be in a rather good mood despite having an argument with Oberon.

"What makes this time so different from last?" he asked, earning a scowl from the blue haired Fae.

"Because this time, Oberon pushed further than he usually does," she said with a clear amount of vehemence from the tiny woman, "this time he threatened to slaughter all her loyal followers if she wouldn't assist him."

"Why would he do that?" he couldn't understand it, why would he threaten his wife like that? Sure they may not get along but that was just outright horrible.

"Because he can't beat Nyx," that explanation made him frown in thought, "he wants her to fight Nyx while he handles Loki and the rest of their forces destroy the rest of Ginza."

"B-but that's…" he didn't understand why such a thing would happen, it just didn't make sense to him.

"Stupid I know, but he wants to prove our forces power by crushing another of the established powers in the world… and it seems he's getting more desperate in his attempts at getting her majesty to agree to his demands," the sheer contempt in the pixies voice was enough to let him know that the King of the Fae was not making any friends with his own kind.

"So what's stopping her from stopping him?" Harry didn't understand what the main problem was, if Oberon couldn't force her to do anything then why was it such a big deal, it wasn't like he could just slaughter everyone.

"Her majesty has control of three species, Pixies, High Pixies and Jack Frosts… Oberon has control over the Pyro Jacks, Trolls, Kelpies and Setanta… his forces would decimate us and could potentially take down her Majesty if they ever teamed up to face her," that explanation only made him frown even more.

"Wait, if they can overcome Titania and she can fight on par with Nyx… then what's stopping them from using the same tactics against her?" it didn't make sense to him.

"Because unlike her Majesty, Ginza has plenty of demons on par with Oberon's forces, so they wouldn't be capable of focusing their strength against her," now that explanation made sense to him.

"Alright, now I understand… so let's go see Titania and see if she wants refuge with the rest of you in my world," and with that statement, he headed towards the location he knew the majestic fairy resided.

It didn't take long due to the lack of demon's trying to kill him.

"Hello your Majesty," he called out, causing the tiny woman to turn towards him before letting out an irritated sigh.

"Greetings, young Harry Potter… I wish I could offer you a warmer welcome but there are important matters I cannot delay," her tone was polite, but there was a definite undercurrent of anger beneath it, honestly he was glad he hadn't done anything to incite that fury.

"I know, Peaseblossom told me," he admitted, causing her to glare at the high pixie with a clear look of rage on her features.

"You told him?!" it was clear that the fairy wasn't supposed to mention anything now and given the look of despair on her features upon receiving that angry question, he wasn't supposed to admit it.

"Yes, she told me," he decided to interrupt anymore scolding, "and because of that, I am here to offer you and your loyal people refuge in my home world."

That seemed to catch the green dressed Queen off guard enough for her to face him with a bewildered expression.

"What?" her question was quiet, much quieter than he expected but he still managed to hear her.

"I said, that I am here to offer you and your people refuge in my home world," he repeated, "the Chamber of Secrets may not be the best place but there is also the forbidden forest outside of the castle, I'm pretty sure you could probably set yourselves up there without too much difficulty."

"And what do you ask for in return?" the question managed to catch him off guard himself but he eventually managed to get his bearings.

"Why do I need to ask for anything?" he reasoned, "you yourself helped me when you had no reason to… so just think of it as repaying a favour."

With that answer, her expression softened considerably.

"Then I thank you for your assistance in this matter, young Harry Potter," and with that statement, she did something he never expected her to do for him.

She curtsied.

"Lily, is everyone here?" Harry blinked at that as a High Pixie moved over to the queen.

"Yes your majesty," the other blue haired pixie stated with a salute.

"I thought demons didn't have individual names?" he asked Peaseblossom as she floated next to him.

"Her Majesty decided it was a fun idea after I explained it to her… so she decided to name each and every one of us," the High Pixie he knew the best stated with amusement clear in her voice.

"All of you heard what young Harry Potter has said," the queen of the Fae called out, earning nods and ayes from all of the gathered fairies, "we shall move to this other world, we will make ourselves a new home and we will thrive. Oberon will no longer threaten any of you and we shall live without fear of what the next cycle will bring… now come with me, we shall go to the terminal and we shall leave this wretched cage of stone and metal, we shall leave those that demand war and we shall finally have a chance to live in peace!"

And with that small speech given, Harry found himself smiling at the blonde as they all prepared themselves to go to the terminal and escape the constant struggles of the Vortex World.

"So, Titania…" he started, earning the beautiful woman's attention, "when we get back, do you want some tea?"

"That would be wonderful…" she paused before a beautiful smile crept onto her face, "my friend."


	14. Chapter 14

Breakfast.

It was the meal many considered the most important of the day, the meal where you would eat your fill and use it to make it to lunch and therefore, eating breakfast would be the proper start to the day.

Albus Dumbledore was one of those people who very much believed in the benefits of having a hearty breakfast.

Which is why he tended to get up and make his way to the Great Hall far earlier than anyone else, it gave him plenty of time to eat as much as he wanted… and it also gave him a chance to watch all the students arrive in the morning.

Trying to remember every student was basically his method of exercising his brain in the morning but as he got older, he found that he remembered individual's less and less, usually only remembering those that truly stood out against their peers, like the Weasley's, Malfoy's and other long lines of wizarding families.

Of course this year he would have two others that would stand out no matter how bad his memory got.

Rachael Jones and Harry Potter.

One shouldn't be a witch while the other's very existence was a lie.

He tried to rationalize it but in the end, he knew that the girl had formed a contract with a demon of some kind, the real question was what the contents of that contract were.

For Harry on the other hand, he could only think of one thing that worked for the boy, the fact was that the boy was capable of interacting with others and objects, with proved he wasn't an illusion.

So in the end, there was only one possibility he could think of… Harry Potter had died.

He had somehow managed to die before being resurrected through some unknown method, with that done then his sight would tell him that the boy wasn't really there because he _should_ be in a grave somewhere.

But that didn't matter, he was more than ready to face whatever he was faced with later, but right now, he just wanted breakfast and a chance to get to exercise his brain.

When he entered the hall however, his mind froze.

"Mr Potter? What are you doing up this early?" he couldn't stop himself from asking upon seeing the dark haired boy sitting at the Slytherin table.

"Yo CSK," that greeting caught him off guard, what did he mean by that? "outside of me, has anyone else decided to say hi to Fido?"

"Fido?" he couldn't stop the confusion from lacing his voice, he had most certainly not expected the boy to be so… well, casual… or avoid answering his question.

"You know, the puppy on the third floor," Dumbledore simply blinked in surprise, he had expected students to check out the corridor sooner or later… but not on the very first night of school.

And a first year no less.

"Then I would like to ask you what made you decide to investigate that corridor instead of get some sleep for today," he decided to ask the boy, the fact was tha he _hadn't_ actually forbidden them from going to the corridor, instead he had promised them a painful death… which he seemed to have managed to avoid.

"Well, I don't sleep more than an hour a night anyway," the casual shrug the boy gave made him blink in surprise, "and I was interested in the 'painful death' part of your speech… it was actually pretty disappointing really."

"What do you mean it was disappointing?" that particular wording sounded far too relaxed for someone who had just come inches from death.

"Well, all I had to do to get it to back down was slap each of its noses," wait… slap its noses? JUST HOW CLOSE DID THE BOY COME TO DYING THERE?!

"Mr Potter… just how close did you come to dying last night?" he asked in the hopes that the boy was just exaggerating.

"Nowhere near close," that was a relief, "Fido was too big a wimp to ever kill me."

Dumbledore really didn't know what to think of that… was it arrogance, a set of lies, or was there more to the boy than he let on?

So he decided to ignore the implications and instead focus on something else.

"Hagrid calls him Fluffy," he noted the way the boy simply shrugged.

"And I call him Fido," well that statement made his lip quirk in amusement, the fact that Harry was clearly completely unconcerned with what other people thought was both reassuring and disappointing.

Reassuring, in that it meant he would be harder for the Slytherin's to manipulate for their purposes… and disappointing in that it meant the boy could easily perform actions that most would consider wrong and not care.

"Now then, what was this about you not sleeping?" another change in subject was called for and once again, the response he received was a shrug.

"I don't need much in the way of food or sleep… though I think I won't need _any_ of that here… not with the amount of energy in the air," now that was a strange thing to hear… honestly the only thing he knew that didn't need some form of food was Fawkes and he was a…

No, that wouldn't work, his gift of true sight wouldn't make a demon a blank spot, he knew, he had seen Fawkes' parent after getting the power and it was definitely not a blank spot in the universe.

But then again, if Harry had died and had been resurrected somehow, then he may very well not need sustenance like a human.

He just didn't know.

"I see… well I will ask that you don't break curfew again," he was planning on saying more but the snort that came from the boy stopped him, "do you find something funny mister Potter?"

"I'll break curfew if I want to," that statement made him blink in surprise, he had never had a child outright admit that they would break curfew and didn't care what he said about it.

"You do realise that I am the headmaster don't you?" he was surprised when the amber eyed boy simply shrugged with a small chuckle.

"So? Unless you prove you're strong enough to force me to obey you, I won't unless I feel like it," Albus Dumbledore found himself staring dumbfounded at the boy… it had been a long time since raw strength was the decider in whether a child respected an adult or not.

"And you do realise that I am more than capable of expelling you correct?" he decided to use another approach, earning a toothy grin off the boy.

"And how do you think the rest of the wizarding world would feel about that?" well, would you look at that, the boy was prepared to call his bluff, though for other reasons, "the headmaster of Hogwarts expelling the saviour of the wizarding world just because he's an insomniac."

Well… when it was phrased like that it definitely sounded bad but the truth would be that it would be because of his refusal to follow school rules.

And all of that was ignoring the fact that he needed the boy to stay in order to make sure Voldemort would have an enemy capable of defeating him.

"Regardless of that mister Potter, I would appreciate it if you didn't wander the corridors after dark," he decided to state, earning yet another shrug in response.

"To be fair, it isn't really wandering when you have three targets," now that interested him.

"You have three targets?" now that certainly was interesting.

"The third floor corridor, since there is no way I'm not going to toughen up Fido," wait? Toughen up Fido? Was he seriously talking about training Fluffy to be a better guard dog? "I also plan on exploring the forbidden forest," now he was just being cocky, especially given that he had already stated that the forbidden forest was, as the name implies, forbidden, "and then there is that secret room a friend of mine told me about before I came here."

Now that was even more worrying, apparently he had contact with someone who attended Hogwarts before arriving… so the real question was quite simply, where was this secret room?

"May I ask who told you about this room?" he asked, hoping to get a name to look up.

"Her name is Elisheva," well, that was definitely not a name he had previously encountered, which raised the question of who this woman was.

"Now, would you tell me what you plan on doing in the forest and this secret room?" the shrug in response was expected by now.

"What I plan on doing in the forest is private business," now that made him blink in surprise, the boy wasn't going to make up a fake action he was planning on taking and was instead going to just bluntly tell him it had nothing to do with him? "and as for the secret room… I plan on making that my night time retreat."

Well, he supposed that at least the boy was being relatively open with him and not trying to dance around any questions like young mister Malfoy would… or any child his age if he was honest with himself.

Now if only he wouldn't be so dismissive of the rules put in place for their protection.

"Harry, the forbidden forest is forbidden because of how dangerous it is," he decided to say, earning a blank look from the boy.

"Given that Hogwarts a History mentioned that there were Acromantula, Centaurs and several other deadly species in there, I assumed it was anyway," well, it appeared that he wasn't simply ignorant of the dangers within the forest but rather, he was dismissive of them.

"And tell me, what makes you think everything will be fine if you go there? Any one of those species are deadly for humans to confront," the way Harry rolled his eyes told him that the boy wasn't impressed.

"So? What makes you think something as simple as a little danger will stop me from going about my business?" now it was clear to him that the boy was simply unreasonable… in other words he had managed to inherit his mothers stubbornness.

Which meant he wouldn't be capable of getting through to the boy without doing anything drastic.

And he wasn't prepared to do anything too drastic unless the boy was obviously becoming another Voldemort… which given his current attitude, didn't really seem likely.

Tom had always been more charismatic, but also cold and calculating … the boy would've never admitted to any wrongdoings and would've immediately feigned ignorance or regret at doing such a thing.

He most certainly wouldn't have basically told the headmaster to stuff themselves and their authority.

"Headmaster?" he found himself turning to face the entrance of the Great Hall, seeing a young girl… now who was she again? Oh that's right!

"Good Morning Miss Granger," he said in his most grandfatherly tone, it was always easier to let the teachers handle punishments as it allowed him to project the image of the kindly grandfather to the students and ease their nerves about being so far away from their families for so long, "you are up early."

"Yes sir, I was just so excited about starting today that I couldn't wait to get up!" the girl was clearly excited about the prospect of learning magic, then again, he remembered hearing about her off Minerva, who was convinced the girl would be sorted into Ravenclaw, however the end result was very different.

She was a Gryffindor.

From that he would have assumed she would be another Lily, however there were three things Lily had that made her life at Hogwarts easier… all three this young girl lacked.

Beauty, Lily had been beautiful even at the tender age of eleven, something that made most of the boys trip over themselves in their attempts at impressing her… James Potter more than most.

Social skills, Lily had had a perfectly normal childhood outside of her relationship with her half-blooded neighbour, which meant the girl knew when to shut up because other people weren't interested.

And lastly, a friend… when she came to Hogwarts, Lily Evans had been close friends with one Severus Snape, which meant that if she had ever had any problems, she had had someone she could speak to about them… at least, until that time in their later years that destroyed their friendship for the rest of her life.

But the important part of all that was that those three things allowed Lily to thrive… and young Miss Granger didn't have any of them going for her according to Minerva.

Certainly having those three attributes wasn't needed to thrive at Hogwarts, but for a bookworm to survive in Gryffindor and not Ravenclaw… well, he just knew she was going to have a hard time.

"You're Harry Potter aren't you?" he inwardly cringed at the way the girl seemed to focus on the amber eyed boy and hoped she wasn't going to push him too far.

"Yeah, that's right, what do you want? An autograph?" the way the boy said that last part made him nearly chuckle, clearly the boy actually had a sense of humour.

"Huh? Can I really have one?" the hope in the girl's voice was clear to him and he began to frown at the fact that Harry would play a joke like that on such a socially awkward girl.

"Sure," now that made him stall, Harry was actually prepared to give out autographs? "my best friend made me practice when she found out I was famous, though you are the first to actually get one."

His best friend knew he was famous?

"Really? Who is your best friend?" she asked him with curiosity clear in her tone.

"She was sorted into your house," now that was something that Dumbledore really focused on, "and her name is Rachael Jones."

Instantly Dumbledore found his blood running cold.

The two biggest problems in the school were best friends?

He really should've seen that coming… damned Sod's Law.

"Really? You mean the one who decided to stay up reading comic books?" she sounded almost offended.

"Yep… that'll be her," that easy response made it clear that such a thing wasn't exactly a surprise for the young boy.

"You should talk to her about that, she didn't come here to mess around, she came here to learn!" Hermione started to rant, only to quickly find herself cut off from her rambling.

"Actually, she came because she wanted to stay with me… and learn magic so she could pretend to be a superhero," now that second part was rather amusing… and if that was her real character then it was likely that the contract she signed was for the magic so she could try and become a comic book character.

He internally sighed in dismay at the fact that the wizarding world didn't have their own comic books but at the same time, he knew why it would be illogical to do so.

It didn't stop him from sampling the muggle media whenever he was in muggle London.

"So she isn't even planning on taking this seriously?!" the Granger girl sounded almost offended by the possibility that 'the girl that shouldn't be' wasn't planning on taking school seriously, which in turn, further made him feel that she would seriously struggle in Gryffindor.

"Actually, I'd say she is probably planning on taking this more seriously than she does anything else," the fact that Harry was standing up for his friend was something that made him feel a little better about the boy going into Slytherin, "she actually tried out some of the spells before coming and she _never_ did any homework back in Primary."

"If she's like that then what does she think she'll do when she's older?!" the way the bushy haired Gryffindor seemed to take that as a personal insult wasn't reassuring.

"You know, I don't think she's ever thought of that… I myself just plan on relaxing, hanging out with my friends, maybe travel the world when I'm older," the amber eyed boy said easily as he practically leaned back into his chair.

"And how do you think you'll afford to do that if you don't have a job?" now that he was talking about himself she seemed to narrow her eyes at him, as if daring him to say something stupid.

"Because my parents were multimillionaires before they died," that response seemed to stop her short.

"What?" this time her question was much quieter and Harry once again shrugged, Dumbledore idly wondered if he was just exercising his shoulders.

"My parents were multimillionaires before they died," the girl didn't seem to comprehend what he was just saying, "so I don't really need to get a job if I don't want to."

Dumbledore understood exactly what the boy was talking about, it was like how James had only become an auror because he had wanted to help fight Voldemort and the Death Eaters.

He supposed it was one of the advantages of being old money, though he had hoped the boy would at least attempt to invest himself into the wizarding world later in life.

"By the way, what's your name?" the boy asked after a few seconds silence.

"Hermione Granger," and with that, the boy pulled out a photo of himself and a quill before writing a message 'to Hermione Granger, the first to receive my autograph'.

"There you go," and with that, he handed the photo to her, though she didn't look as enthusiastic about it now that she knew his goal in life.

"Well now, I think we could all do with taking our seats," the headmaster stated calmly.

"Whatever you say CSK," and once again, the boy referred to him in such a strange manner.

"What does that actually mean?" he decided to ask, wondering why the boy would call him something like that.

"It's an acronym for 'Closet Serial Killer'."

Well… that was a new one.

XXX XXX XXX

Harry had to admit, that Hermione girl was annoying.

Honestly getting into a tirade over him calling the headmaster a closest serial killer… it wasn't as if he was being malicious in his naming, he just felt it was appropriate for someone that puts a Cerberus in a school full of squishy human children and then telling them that the corridor is forbidden but not why.

That was just asking for some curious child to sneak in to see what the danger was.

Still, he supposed that didn't matter much, if the children wanted to die painfully then that was their prerogative and he wouldn't try to stop them.

He just hoped Fido wouldn't get indigestion off any of them, that dog was a big enough wimp already, it didn't need to be put off eating people by a case of a sore stomach.

However right now, none of that was important… what was important right now was the simple fact that he, the rest of the Slytherin's and Ravenclaws all had Transfiguration now.

And walking into the classroom, he immediately noted the cat that was really a human pretending to be a cat.

"So… when are we going to learn how to pretend to be animals like that?" he decided to ask the cat, earning several looks of confusion as well as several snickers from some of the braver Slytherin's.

"What are you talking about Potter?" the blonde from the previous night asked, he never had asked her name had he? And he hadn't paid much attention to them during the Sorting.

"Well, this cat isn't actually a cat, but rather a human that's pretending to be a cat," he informed them all, earning several laughs off the rest of the class.

"What are you on Potty Potter?" a boy he never bothered to learn the name of asked in a mocking tone, probably not really thinking about what happened the previous night… or trying to make himself seem tough by mocking the guy that could easily crush several sixth and seventh years.

And then the cat jumped off the desk and immediately turned into Professor McGonagall.

The class turned completely silent as they shifted their gazes between the teacher and him.

"Well Mister Potter, the animagus transformation is usually only attempted if you enter the NEWT course," she stated, making him blink.

"So that would be about sixth and seventh year right?" the nod he received from the woman made it clear that it was going to be awhile before he was given the opportunity to become an animal… and to think, he had really wanted to find a way to give himself wings because sometimes it really sucked to be the only member of his group that couldn't' fly.

"Wait! How could you even tell she wasn't a real cat?" one of the Ravenclaws asked, earning a shrug off the dark haired boy.

"I'm very magically sensitive, so much so that I can tell the difference between human magic and other forms of it.

"Yes, Hagrid and the Headmaster did mention that you were sensitive to magic, so much so that you could tell which wands in Ollivanders were rejecting you," the teacher stated, earning several looks of shock from the rest of the class, "now, everyone, find a seat."

It didn't take long for the class to sit down, though Harry noted the way she was watching him with hawk eyes.

He concluded that she was wary of him now that she knew he could see through her transformation.

"Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will be learning at Hogwarts," she started to say after taking roll call and finding that everyone was there, "anyone found fooling around in this class will leave and won't come back. This is your only warning."

Harry didn't really care, he wasn't there to fool around if he was honest with himself, rather he was there to learn how to perform magic, meet people and generally try and get a weapon to use against the Hitoshura.

Even if he didn't really expect the magic of human's to really do much in the end.

And so the first thing the class was given to do was to read over several pages worth of material, honestly the fact that he had read far _more_ than that over the month leading up to the start of school meant he already knew everything she wanted them to go over.

Then she gave them instructions and the task of turning a matchstick into a needle.

So he pulled out his wand and used it to turn the matchstick into a steak knife.

"Will this do?" he asked while holding the knife up for the teacher to see.

"I believe I said a needle, not a knife," she seemed… conflicted about his achievement, probably because he had proven he was capable of performing a more advanced transfiguration than what she had asked for, but at the same time he had ignored her instructions.

"To be fair, a knife is a metal, pointy thing as well," he responded with a shrug.

"That isn't the point," it was clear she wasn't happy with his dismissal of her displeasure.

"No, this is the point," he knew he was going to annoy her by saying that and pointing at the tip of the blade... and her twitching didn't disappoint.

"I see now that you are going to be trouble Mr Potter," she stated, "and that will be five points from Slytherin for your cheek."

In response, he just shrugged.

"Fine, it's not like it matters is it?" he easily noted the look of shock on her face at that response.

"What do you mean by that? Didn't I say before that during your time at Hogwarts, your house is like your family?" she definitely seemed annoyed with him now.

"Yeah, you did... but there is one problem with that," he stated, earning a narrowing of her eyes, "I hate my family."

That admission seemed to make her cringe, clearly she understood what his relationship with his relatives was like if she wasn't arguing with him about it.

The fact that whispering started echoing through the room only made it clear that his statement was a surprise to most of the students.

"Quiet, all of you," the teacher commanded clearly, causing silence to permeate the room, "now, Mister Potter, I will give you one warning, do not try to do anything more advanced than what I give you for the class, or you will be removed from this class."

"You know, if that is how you feel then I think I'll just leave myself," the way her eyes widened at that statement made it clear she hadn't been expecting it, "after all, I'm capable of transfiguring mirrors... so I guess I'll probably advance faster without you forcing me to slow down to whatever pace you demand."

And with that said, he stood up from his desk, clearly to the shock of the rest of the class and started to walk towards the door.

"Mister Potter!" she definitely seemed irate, "if you leave this room then you will never sit your O.W.L.S."

She clearly meant it as a threat but Harry simply smirked before turning back to her.

"So what?" she looked like she had just seen her grandparents brutalized, "I have no intention of taking a job when I'm older... so what use are qualifications when I could actually develop my skills properly?"

She didn't seem to have an answer to that question.

So he left the classroom, ready to put his effort into advancing at his own pace.

XXX XXX XXX

Albus Dumbledore had to admit, he was expecting this.

"That boy has no respect!" Minerva was definitely on a tirade now, "even James didn't walk out in the middle of class like that!"

"And what do you think we can do about it?" he asked, earning a serious look from the woman.

"Give him detention with Filch for a few weeks and he may lose that superior attitude of his," he couldn't stop himself from letting out a sigh at that idea.

"And do you honestly think he would go to those detentions?" that was the real question.

"If he refuses to go to detentions then expel him!" he knew she didn't know the truth about that possibility... so he decided to see just how much trust she held in him.

"Minerva... do you trust me?" that question seemed to shock her out of her anger.

"Of course I do... but what does that have to do with anything?" she asked him, and so he let out a deep breath.

"It matters because there are reasons I can't share that require Harry remain at Hogwarts and learning how to perform magic," he just knew she was going to argue that statement but he wanted to keep this information from as many people as possible for now, if it was to get out then he could very well lose the resources to ensure it didn't spiral out of control.

He needed to prepare Harry for when Voldemort returned.

That's not to say he wanted to control every aspect of the boy's life, no, that was just stupid... it was Harry's life and he deserved to live it how he wanted, especially if his suspicion about that scar turned out to be correct.

After all, if Harry had to die for Voldemort to die, then he should at least lead a life he enjoyed.

"Albus... I don't know why that boy needs to learn magic but if he refuses to accept authority then he can't be allowed to stay," she was just as firm as she usually was, however in this case, Dumbledore had too much riding on a single person.

"Minerva... please, just trust me, I wouldn't be excluding him from expulsion if I didn't think it was serious," he prayed she wouldn't try digging any further and her face told him that she was anything but happy with his decision to leave her ignorant of whatever he knew.

"Very well, however I hope you manage to do something about that boy and his arrogance soon," and with that the woman finally left his office.

"You know Fawkes, sometimes I wish things had gone differently," and with that said, he poured himself a glass of Fire-Whiskey and started to down it in an attempt to treat his growing headache... and to think, it wasn't even lunchtime yet.

XXX XXX XXX

Fawkes was an intelligent bird, then again, he was a phoenix so it was to be expected.

However it wasn't his intelligence that told him what was wrong right now.

No, from what he could tell of his owners ramblings... the boy was Chaos touched.

While his master may believe the boy had died, he knew that such a thing wouldn't work... the gift of true sight would see the truth of the corpse, not a lack of existence.

The lack of existence meant he existed outside of the Amala Network... and only beings touched by Lucifer or the others he created existed like that.

So the fact was that it was a truly dangerous situation they found themselves in and unlike his 'father', he couldn't speak any human language.

In the end, there was only one thing he could do.

Tonight.

After his owner had fallen asleep, that would be when he would make his move.

That is when he would confront the Chaos touched boy and determine his objectives while at Hogwarts.

And even if the boy decided to kill him, he would simply be reborn again.

That was the advantage of being a Phoenix.


	15. Chapter 15

Filius Flitwick was considered one of the world's premier duellists and charm masters. He was also half goblin and as such, was far more magically sensitive than most wizards.

Though that wasn't really saying much given just how ignorant of magic most human's were, if they had a Goblin's level of magical sensitivity then they would've immediately noticed what was off about young mister Potter.

He hadn't bothered telling the headmaster about it, the boy didn't seem like he was going to go on some sort of rampage and slaughter everyone, so instead he used his connection to the Flu network to have a chat with his cousin at Gringotts.

For that reason he was more than willing to accept what he was told by his relative, that Harry Potter was a demon but had no nefarious intentions.

Of course, he knew that since the boy was a demon, he would have certain impulses that would need sorting out if he wanted to truly teach the boy.

Such as his disrespect of authority. That was something that was actually pretty standard as far as he was aware, if you wanted to get a demon to respect your authority then you had to prove to them that you were strong enough to hold that position... which was something he was already aware Minerva had failed to do due to her spouting it out while storming through the corridors earlier.

That was the problem with treating a demon like a child, you would expect it to listen and be subdued by words but you would fail every time.

The only other way outside of violence that a person could control a demon, was by keeping its interest and making it _want_ something from you that it couldn't gain through plain brute force, that was something that he could easily do, honestly, the number of teachers in the school that couldn't offer him something was very small.

However he already expected him to get the basic charms down without any real effort, so he had already decided on what to give him once the boy had proven himself.

Plus this charm would be a good way for him to judge the boy's character and would take some time for him to get down even if he was capable of it.

And then the children started to file into the room and he prepared himself to try and lighten the mood of the class.

Eventually everyone was there, both the Gryffindors and Slytherins, honestly, whoever thought that putting those two together in a class where they learned methods to alter reality was a good idea needed to have their brain checked.

He also noted how he was sitting directly next to a Gryffindor… he couldn't really remember her name, not when he had only seen her once during the Sorting Ceremony, though he would eventually get to know her personally, just like he did with pretty much every student in the school… well, outside of the Slytherins but that was due to them spurning him due to his heritage.

And so he started the roll call, making certain to say their names in as friendly a manner as possible… until he reached Harry Potter that is.

At that point he made a show of falling down as if star struck by his presence.

The raised eyebrow from the boy probably meant he either didn't understand why he decided to do that, or wasn't impressed by the fact he had.

Either way wouldn't really matter, what mattered was how he handled the boy directly.

And he would make sure he handled the boy as he should be handled.

"Now, here in charms you will be learning many different methods of affecting the world around you," he started to say, "from making fruit dance like this," and with that statement, he made a pineapple on his desk hop up and do a little jig for the class, "to blasting others across the room like this."

And then he struck at the pineapple with a blasting curse, throwing it with enough force to turn it into a splatter on the wall.

He noted the way most of the students looked on in awe, though Harry seemed more contemplative than awed.

"Now, the first charm you will be learning, is Lumos," and with that he proceeded to teach the students how to emit light from their wands, noting how there were only two who weren't struggling.

Harry Potter had already succeeded in casting the charm perfectly while Miss Granger was close to getting it down already.

"Mr Potter and Miss Granger, excellent displays of magic, ten points to both Slytherin and Gryffindor," and with that, the rest of the class focused on the two.

He would admit that he had not expected anyone outside of Mr Potter to pull off the spell already however if he wanted to make the boy placid, then he would be required to give the boy something to work on now.

"Now mister Potter, miss Granger, would you please come to my desk," he noted the looks of surprise on the faces of the two students before they walked down towards him, "now, you have both gotten the Lumos charm down, however I don't want you getting too far ahead of the rest of the class," he could see the young demon's eyes already narrowing, "so instead of having you waste your time on spells you have already managed to get down, I will instead give you another charm to practice, one that isn't related to the course as it is right now."

That statement seemed to make both blink in surprise, "it is called the Patronus Charm and is considered an advanced charm that many adults still can't cast."

He noted the hesitation in the Granger girls expression and the eagerness in Potters, clearly he was interested in learning advanced magic, so he gave the two the instructions of how to perform the charm and then he let them get on with it.

Now the real question would start to be answered.

Was mister Potter capable of caring about people?

It was something that many people didn't realise, it wasn't simply the thought of happiness, but also that of love, whether that love be familial or romantic didn't matter, simply that it was love.

Unless Harry was capable of feeling those emotions, he would never get the spell down.

XXX XXX XXX

Harry had to admit, Professor Flitwick was definitely better than McGonagall.

She tried to stifle his progress, but the diminutive man however gave him something completely unrelated to work on, something more advanced than any of the other spells he had tried, though given what the man had said about the difficulty of the spell, he suspected that he was giving it as a long term distraction as opposed to something to learn.

But he would show the man.

He would think of his happiest memory and pull off the spell just as it was supposed to be done.

The problem he could figure out already however was deciding which memory to use.

Unfortunately, he didn't really have many good memories that stood out as exceptionally important... most of his important memories involved the person he hated more than anyone else after all.

So he went over the memories he had, of seeing the Dursley's terrified faces the first time he punched a hole through a well, meeting Rachael, meeting Jiao, of returning to the human world with her, Moana and Elisheva... but in the end, he picked the memory with the strongest feeling of happiness he had.

Of finally sharing his secrets with his first friend.

That memory stood out for him more than any others, as after years of keeping her in the dark and resisting the urge to just tell her the truth, he finally did give in the desire... and she accepted everything.

He found that he couldn't stop his lip from quirking into a soft smile as he pushed those feelings forward, waved his wand exactly as he was shown and let the words leave his mouth.

"Expecto Patronum," he could immediately see the shock that appeared on everyone's faces as a large silvery wolf erupted from his wand and started to prance around the room.

Though none of them looked more shocked than the teacher himself, though that shock quickly turned to a bright smile.

"That is exceedingly impressive young mister Potter," the short man said with a blinding smile, "I've never seen anyone succeed at that spell within a week, let alone achieve a fully corporeal patronus within a month."

The man definitely seemed amazed at his ability to create the Patronus.

"I guess I just have a good memory," he admitted with a grin.

He would also admit, that he quite liked the spell, the emotions he had to focus on certainly felt good.

"So do you have any other charms to teach me?" he asked but before the teacher could respond there was a third voice cutting into the air.

"Expecto Patronum!" Hermione clearly felt jealous at the fact he pulled off an advanced charm on his first try and had shouted out the incantation as she waved her wand perfectly.

But nothing happened.

"You know Granger, in this case, emotions seem to play a more important role than the incantation and wand movement," he decided to state, earning a glare off the girl.

"Mister Potter is correct, when performing the Patronus, it is important to focus not on the incantation and wand movement, but the memory itself," she seemed to deflate when Flitwick backed him up, "that is one of the reasons it is such an advanced spell, since the user has to concentrate so much on a single memory, pulling it off is incredibly difficult."

That didn't seem to satisfy the bushy haired girl, then again, from what he could tell, she took school far more seriously than ninety nine percent of children.

"So… can I get another spell to try out?" he asked, earning another little smile off the diminutive teacher.

"While I think you should practice using that spell, I think keeping you here may not be the best idea," Harry couldn't stop himself from raising an eyebrow at that statement, "so for now, why don't you go and do some private studying and come back for the next lesson."

Well, that wasn't what he was expecting but he wasn't going to complain, the chance to improve his skills at his own pace was beneficial after all.

"And if you have any questions concerning any of the spells you attempt, feel free to ask me the next time you see me," it was official, Professor Flitwick was now his favourite teacher, thought it wasn't exactly saying much given how the only other teachers he knew here were McGonagall and Professor Binns… and since he literally left Binns class a third of the way through it and the ghost hadn't even noticed, it was clear the teacher didn't pay attention to his class.

There was also the fact that he wasn't exactly interested in history, he wanted to learn stuff that could be used to further his goal of killing the Hitoshura, not a list of names and places.

He wouldn't be going to a History Of Magic anymore, that was for certain.

"Yeah, I think I will," and with that, he proceeded to stand from his seat and prepare himself to leave the class.

"Well, I hope you focus on work… though I'll expect you to be capable of performing the levitation charm by the next lesson," Harry could do little more than smirk at that, he was more than capable of performing that charm right then.

"Sure thing prof," and with that he proceeded to leave, idly noting the way Rachael was giving him a small glare.

She was probably upset he wasn't staying to help her with her own work.

He was tempted to stay behind but decided that it would probably be better for her to try in class and get a proper teacher to help her for a change.

Besides, he could help her later if she still needed it.

And so he left, ready to put more work into his charms.

XXX XXX XXX

Daphne Greengrass couldn't believe the way the first day was going.

Harry Potter had already blown off one of the heads of houses, left a History of Magic and managed to gain the favour of the charms professor…

That last part was the strangest one.

Especially when he had summoned a patronus.

Her family had had a few members that had helped gather the Dementors for Azkaban and as such, she had access to detailed texts concerning the use of that spell.

So she knew that it required love to use.

To think, that such a brutal individual was capable of feeling love was just such a strange concept for her, the only people she knew of that were as brutal as that were Death Eaters and they _couldn't_ cast the Patronus charm.

Though to be fair, most Death Eaters weren't _that_ brutal.

Which only further proved her point that it was strange for him to be capable of creating a Patronus.

Though the fact that he was capable of performing the spell even _with_ a happy memory pointed out one more thing about him... he was unnaturally skilled at magic.

The fact that every attempt at magic he had made so far had been successful on the first try really said something about either his natural talent... or any training he may have received when he was younger.

But she was getting ahead of herself again, it was now finally time for dinner and so she, just like the rest of the Slytherin's, was on her way towards the Great Hall.

She wasn't particularly surprised to see Harry sitting at the table already, reading a book that she couldn't see the title of.

So she walked over to the table before making note of one anomaly in the sea of green and red that had left Charms together.

It was a rather plain looking girl in red trimmed robes walking towards the _wrong table_.

"And where do you think you're going you stupid kitten," she heard the voice of Theodore Nott over the hustle and bustle of the Slytherin first years, obviously he was taking offence at the idea that a Gryffindor was walking towards the Slytherin table.

"To see my friend," the girl responded easily.

"Gryffindors aren't welcome at the Slytherin table," Nott was definitely taking offence at the girl but Daphne was far too focused on something else to really care about what he thought.

This girl was a Gryffindor, she said she was going to see her friend... Potter said _his_ best friend was in Gryffindor... and he was sitting next to her in class... and now he was getting up from his seat and heading towards Nott and the girl.

She glanced towards the teachers table and noted that they all seemed to be ignoring the exchange.

And then Potter put his hand on Nott's shoulder.

"So... are you going to leave my friend alone or do I have to break your collarbone?" the casual way he made that question only made her blood run cold again, how could someone capable of performing the Patronus charm maim others so casually?

"Y-you don't scare me Potter," Nott was clearly unnerved, "we're in the middle of the Great Hall, the teachers will catch you if you do anything."

"Harry, no," everyone froze as the Gryffindor made that statement, "I know you don't care about them but... but just think of how annoying the teachers will be if you break this guy's shoulder."

Annoying?

That girl just referred to the teacher as being annoying?

The look that was currently adorning the amber eyed boy's face made it clear that he didn't agree with what she was saying.

"Rachael, I'm not going to just sit back and do nothing while some insect is bugging you," Daphne once again found herself marvelling at just how easily he seemed to disregard everyone with minimal effort.

"Perhaps, but just because they're ants doesn't mean they can't harm you if you get enough trying to kill you," she felt her eye twitch, the fact that the Gryffindor had just called them ants was not something she felt remotely happy about.

"What's that? You think you're better than us do you?" Nott was clearly angry at being dismissed by the girl and Daphne was more than willing to admit that she agreed with him... though she wasn't prepared to risk Potter's ire like he was.

"Nope, I'm an ant too," now that admission threw her for a loop, "it's just that I'm his pet ant as opposed to some random one."

"Rachael, you are not my pet," now that was a further shock for her to hear, "you are my friend."

"I know, but it's the easiest way to describe the difference between me and them," now that just made Daphne twitch even more.

"What is going on here?!" everyone except Harry and the Gryffindor girl froze as Professor McGonagall arrived with obvious distaste in her tone, "mister Potter, please remove your hand from mister Nott's shoulder."

"No, I haven't decided whether I will break it or not," Daphne was once again left shocked speechless at just how easily he dismissed even teachers, at this rate he would definitely get expelled and that would result in his wand getting broken and him being banned from performing magic ever again.

"Mr Potter!" the look of absolute disbelief on the teachers face was clear to everyone, "such threats are unacceptable!"

"Minerva, stand down," a voice she had heard far more recently spoke up, causing her look towards the source, Professor Flitwick.

He looked far more serious than he had during class but she found herself growing cold at the thought that the man would be sticking up for the sadistic bastard.

The fact that the other teachers were looking at him as if something was going very wrong didn't help her feeling of unease.

"Filius what are you?" McGonagall asked, only for the short man to shoot her a glare.

"That is enough Minerva, I will deal with this situation," the seriousness in his tone made it clear that he wasn't going to accept no for an answer, "now mister Potter, you have until the count of three to release Mr Nott."

She noted how everyone was staring and how the greasy man she knew as Severus Snape seemed to be looking on in both distaste and curiosity.

"One," Potter just tilted his head at that, though the girl the entire situation had started over moved closer to him.

"Harry, just let him go," she said, clearly trying to end everything without anything happening.

"Two."

"No, I'm curious about what this teacher plans to," he didn't get to finish.

"Three, Bombarda," everyone could do little more than stare in shock as Potter was struck by a blasting curse that sent him flying half way across the hall."

"FILIUS!" she could do little more than stare in shock at what had just happened, the charms master had managed to pull out his wand with such speed she hadn't even noticed he had brought it out until _after_ the spell had struck Potter.

The fact that most of the other teachers were now looking on in absolute shock, alongside nearly every student as well only made the reality of the situation sink in.

A teacher had just blasted a student.

With a curse designed to destroy walls.

There was no way Harry Potter was still alive after that!

"Don't bother Poppy," the man stated calmly as the school nurse rushed towards the downed boy.

"Well, I am surprised," everyone froze at the casual statement, before looking towards the boy that had just been blasted back as he casually got to his feet, "I didn't think any of you teachers had the spine to use force."

It was impossible, Daphne had seen that spell blow doors off their hinges before, the force behind it should've been enough to shatter his ribs, crush his organs and leave him as nothing more than a corpse… and yet he was shrugging it off effortlessly.

There was no way he could be human.

And that was when it clicked.

The way he looked down on them all, the strength he displayed against the seniors, the talent he had for magic, the way he shrugged off what should've been a fatal blow… it all added up to that one single conclusion.

Harry Potter was not human.

There was simply no way he could be.

"Given how much magic you excrete around yourself, the thought of any typical spell doing anything to harm you is rather foolish," wait, excrete magic?

"Filius what are you talking about?" the headmaster sounded confused at the little half goblin's statement.

"Mr Potter is exuding enough magic to form a protective aura around him," she found herself growing numb at that statement from the teacher, "if you had any Goblin in you then you'd be able to feel it as well."

That made Daphne feel even more concerned about the boy, if he really was just being protected by an aura of magic then just how much magical power did he have?

"So you're saying that he has developed his own form of magical resistance?" the headmaster asked with a raised eyebrow.

"That's correct," the charms professor confirmed for the man without hesitation, "but for now, Mr Potter, I will put it simply, if you wish to resort to violence, then I am more than willing to use it just as much as you."

The blonde girl could do little more than swallow at the fact that she could just see how this would turn out, what with how Potter tore apart the older students the previous night.

"Heh, fine," her eyes widened at that, "but if you ever want me to stand down again… you'll have to beat me to a bloody pulp and trust me when I say this, it won't be easy."

She couldn't believe it, Potter was actually standing down?

"I will admit, I was expecting to have to do that this time," she nearly froze at the charm masters statement, "people like you only respond to violence after all."

"Yeah, but you have the advantage of accepting my desire to advance instead of trying to hinder my progress like a certain someone," she swallowed again as the dark haired boy glared at McGonagall, clearly referring to her with that statement.

"Perhaps if you weren't clearly unready to wield any power," the transfiguration professor started only to be cut off by Professor Flitwick.

"Minerva, stand down," it was just such a strange sight, seeing the small man taking charge of everything.

"Filius," she was clearly not prepared to stand down.

"Minerva," everyone froze upon hearing the headmaster call her name in such a calm tone, "listen to Filius for now, I will have a few words with him later."

"… I understand headmaster," and with that she proceeded to stand down, though the glare she gave the amber eyed boy could melt steel.

"Now, everyone take your seats, have your dinner and do not cause any more trouble," and with the headmasters command, Daphne proceeded to make her way towards an empty seat at the Slytherin table, noting how the Gryffindor was also heading in the same direction.

"You know, this just goes to prove my parents are right," she perked up upon hearing the Gryffindor start talking, "you _are_ a bad influence on me."

Daphne really didn't know what to think of that statement.

XXX XXX XXX

Albus Dumbledore didn't know what t think.

Filius Flitwick was lying to cover something about Mr Potter.

The worst part was that Filius was such a good liar that if he hadn't had the ability to see through all lies, he would've believed him.

The real question however was quite simple… why was Filius covering for the boy? And why did he treat the boy so differently to everyone else?

After all, there was no way he would ever risk using a curse on a normal student, it was just too dangerous and could easily result in him getting fired.

So what was it about Harry that made him willing to use brute force to make him submit?

"You wished to speak with me headmaster," the very person he was thinking about asked upon reaching Dumbledore's office.

"Indeed I did, would you like a lemon drop?" he asked, earning a no in response. After a few seconds, he decided to be brutally honest with the smaller man, it would probably work best with him after all, "I know you lied about why you attacked Mr Potter."

Filius for his part simply nodded, clearly unsurprised at being unable to hide that fact from him.

"Are you willing to tell me the truth about Mr Potter?" he asked bluntly.

"Not without Mr Potters permission as it is not my knowledge to share," that wasn't a lie but Albus needed to know one thing above everything else.

"Is he a danger to anyone?" the question was the most important part of this meeting.

"That… is hard to answer," now that was worrying, "he respects strength above everything else, that is why I used force to make him submit earlier, however if you offer him something he can't get easily then he will be far more co-operative… but if he is provoked… then we may end up with a few students in the Hospital Wing with broken bones."

"And why are you prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt?" he knew that Filius wasn't the sort to put personal belief above everything else, which meant that there was clearly some reason he felt he could trust Mr Potter.

"After showing me he could perform the Lumos charm at the start of his first charm's class, I gave him another charm to try and practice, one I was certain he would have trouble getting down… he pulled it off perfectly on his first attempt," Albus didn't know what a difficult charm had to do with trusting Mr Potter, "it was the Patronus Charm."

Now that changed everything.

"He may not seem like it, but Mr Potter has a massive potential for love, for that reason I don't think we have a new dark lord on the rise," he didn't need to point that out, Dumbledore had done a lot of research into the Patronus, hoping to find a method of empowering his magic with love… but even with all his own talent and capacity to love, it had taken him over a week worth of practice to finally pull off a corporeal Patronus.

For such a clearly violent and uncaring child to succeed on his first try was just… wrong.

"Of course, from what you've already seen, it is unlikely that he cares for anyone that doesn't hold a place in his heart," the half-goblin stated, "but if we could get someone he is close to, to speak with him, then we may start to influence his interactions with others and make him more socially acceptable."

"Do you mean Rachael Jones?" he wasn't an idiot, he had originally thought that the two had no connection to each other but after earlier, it was clear that there was something between the two, perhaps he had died and she had made a deal with a demon to revive him and gotten the magic as a side effect… there was also the matter of the scar and whether or not it was a Horcrux.

If only there was an easy way to identify them, because he didn't know of any way that was a great risk to the tester and since a Horcrux wasn't a lie but rather a storage device, his ability couldn't identify them.

"Perhaps," the short man admitted, "if we can convince her to try and steer him away from aggression and anti-authority actions, then he might very well become a model student."

"The problem is convincing her to agree," the aged headmaster admitted.

"Yes, she didn't seem too concerned about the fact he was threatening to break another students shoulder," it was good to see that the younger man had noticed that little titbit, "clearly she is desensitized to his violence even if none of it is directed towards her."

"I will ask that you have a word with her about this at some point," he requested, "in this situation I don't believe Minerva has the subtlety required to pull it off and sending her to me could result in even more trouble than it's worth."

"I understand… I will also speak with Mr Potter about revealing the truth to you," now that was one of the reasons Professor Flitwick was one of the student body's favourite teachers, he was both capable of putting an immense amount of enthusiasm into his lessons and making other want to achieve… but he was also the sort that respected the student's privacy and didn't demand too much from them.

"Thank you Filius," he meant it, he didn't want to alienate Mr Potter but as it stood, there was only so much he could do and he had started to wonder if Harry was perhaps going to become another evil to compete with Tom.

"Now, if that is everything headmaster?" the little master duellist asked.

"Indeed it is Filius, you may leave now," and with that said, the short man proceeded to leave his seat and leave the office.

He had to let out a sigh at how things were turning out, nothing seemed to be going right and the worst part of it all… was that he couldn't even confirm the prophecy.

Exactly why the Unspeakables were denying him access to it was unknown to him but he was sure that it wasn't good.


	16. Chapter 16

It was dark and Harry found himself letting out a wry grin as he watched the candles resting throughout the large clearing.

"So... how are you finding it here?" he asked as he took a sip of the tea given to him by the queen of the Fae... thankful that it was flavoured with a reasonable amount of Magatsuhi.

"It was rather annoying evicting the Centaurs but they have made their camp a little further in," she stated bluntly, causing Harry to nod his head in understanding, since he was going to be visiting regularly, they wanted to be reasonably close to the edge of the forest, "and then there are the spiders... we usually have to just kill them if they come near but they aren't the brightest of creatures to begin with."

"Yeah, I met one on my way to see you," he admitted as he remembered the eight legged creature that stood nearly three times his height, "it tried to eat me."

"Then I assume you crushed it like it deserved," the fairy stated calmly, causing him to nod in acknowledgement.

"Yeah... so, has anything interesting happened yet?" he decided to ask her casually, earning a smile off the significantly older being.

"Not yet, we have simply spent our time setting up our new kingdom here," the blonde queen stated with a small smile, "though I do expect to find many curiosities now that we are in a human world... they usually have all the strange and wonderful things our kind never think of."

Harry for his part simply smiled at the enthusiasm that he could see in her eyes, it was nice to see her enjoying herself even if only a little.

"Well, I hope you find plenty of stuff to do while you're here," he said as he took another sip of tea.

Silence reigned a little after that, however it was eventually broken by the queen of the Fae.

"Tell me young Harry Potter, what do you plan to do concerning your issues with the Hitoshura?" he let out a sigh at that question, mainly because he knew just how hard attaining his goal would be.

"I plan on killing him," he admitted with a firmness in his tone that didn't usually exist.

"You know how difficult that goal will be to achieve correct?" he nodded at that question.

"I know, he isn't feared for no reason and I can't even make him flinch yet… but I will keep getting stronger, until I can finally end his life and keep myself safe from him," he admitted sincerely.

"In that case, I wish you luck in your endeavour," he smiled at that, the queen of the Fairies was wishing him luck in his goal… while it might not be worth that much practically… it was more than worth a lot for his morale.

"Thank you Titania," he smiled at the extremely powerful demon who simply smiled back.

"There is no need to thank me young Harry Potter," she informed him in a motherly tone, "you have already done the same for me."

"Now tell me, what do you plan on doing concerning your trai-" she didn't finish that statement as a burst of fire erupted between them, quickly clearing to reveal a small Phoenix that possessed very little in the way of demonic power.

The crimson bird looked around before noticing the fact that it was now surrounded by a mass of fairies, each one ready to blast it to kingdom come at any instant.

{I apologize for my sudden interruption} the fire bird stated in its melodic voice {however I only expected to see Mister Potter here}

"So you were looking for me?" the young boy asked easily, earning a nod of confirmation from the fiery chicken, "what for?"

{Well, you see my master is currently rather worried about you} it stated {and unfortunately, since I'm not a full demon I can't talk his language.}

"Okay… and why should I care?" he really didn't understand why this birds master being worried about should effect him.

{My master is the Headmaster of Hogwarts} well, that explained why it would affect him, though it still wasn't cause for him to be concerned yet, {now I will come out and ask you bluntly… are you Chaos Touched?}

"Yeah, wasn't my choice though," he admitted with a shrug.

"It rarely is," Titania stated calmly.

{Now, I have a question for you… what is your goal here?} it was a simple question and one Harry was more than willing to answer.

"I just want to see if wizards have any tricks that could help me kill the Hitoshura," his statement was met with a question.

{And what is this Hitoshura you speak of?} well, since it wasn't a full demon he really shouldn't have been surprised to find out that the little Phoenix didn't know who the Hitoshura was, however given how until that point, the only individuals he knew that didn't know about the Hitoshura were humans (and the occasional animal he bothered speaking to), he had expected it to know.

"He's the prick that turned me into a demon in the first place," he admitted with a small growl, "that and he's constantly teleporting me to another world to mess with me."

{And what is your stance on the Dark Lord that died trying to kill you?} he simply shrugged in response.

"Does it really matter? The guy's dead now so it's not like he's a problem," he stated bluntly, earning a sigh off the demonic bird.

{He's not quite as dead as you'd expect} he rose an eyebrow at that statement, {he has managed to find a method to anchor his soul to this plane of existence… so he lives on as a wraith, waiting for a chance to make a new body to inhabit.}

"I see… well, to be honest, I don't really care one way or the other," the boy who lived stated easily, "if he makes my life hard, then I'll kill him, if not then he doesn't matter."

{I see… you do realise he will be trying to kill you for stopping him when you were a child right?} the phoenix asked bluntly, making him raise an eyebrow.

"Is he really blaming me for his own incompetence?" Harry couldn't believe that, it was almost as stupid as the rest of the wizards exalting him for not dying… it wasn't like he aimed to off the dark lord when he was still learning how to walk.

{It wasn't his incompetence that killed him but whatever your mother did before she died to try and protect you} the budgie of fire stated calmly.

"So? I still don't get why it's my fault he managed to off himself," he still didn't understand the way wizards thought, though that wasn't really saying much, he was coming to the conclusion that they didn't really think that much full stop.

{Well… there is also the prophecy to consider} the crimson bird stated uncertainly, {though my master doesn't want you to know about it yet.}

"Prophecy?" now he was interested.

{It was this prophecy that got your parents killed, however I am unaware of its exact contents} the red bird admitted solemnly.

Silence reigned after that.

He may have known that this Dark Lord had killed his parents but he never knew it was due to a prophecy... and from the sounds of it, it appeared that this guy wouldn't leave him alone either.

He shook his head, he had much bigger things to worry about than some wizard with a bloated ego trying to kill him over some stupid prophecy that wouldn't even be applicable anymore.

"It doesn't matter… if this guy wants to try and kill me, then I'll deal with him, if he ignores me, then I don't care," he informed the Phoenix calmly before finishing off his cup of tea.

{I see… it is unfortunate that you are so callous but I suppose it is to be expected} the beautiful bird admitted, {I hope you see that your place in this world has already been set and fulfil the destiny you were supposed to.}

And with that, the bird vanished in a plume of fire.

"Twould appear that you are more important to this world than previously expected," the blonde haired queen admitted with an amused smile.

"But the prophecy shouldn't be applicable anymore right?" he asked, he was certain that prophecies would be connected to the Amala network and therefore be incapable of corresponding to a being of Chaos like himself.

"Indeed, whatever prophecy involved you should be voided by your status as an agent of Chaos," the green clad woman admitted easily, "however, I would advise that you discover the contents of this prophecy before deciding what you plan on doing… depending on the nature of it, your lack of interference could earn you some powerful enemies."

Harry found himself sinking at that.

What did she mean by powerful enemies?

"What do you mean?" his question was obvious and as such she was more than ready to answer him.

"To disrupt order is to incite the wrath of the Archangels," he grimaced at that statement, while he was certain that at some point he would _need_ to be strong enough to defeat all the Archangels together, as it stood just then he wasn't confident in his abilities to even survive an encounter with one… and that's if it took it easy on him and completely ignoring the fact that he didn't want to fight an angel, "it is good to see that you understand the position you would be in."

"Well, it's not like I want to fight angels either," he admitted, earning a blank stare off the blonde.

"You do not want to fight angels?" she asked with a blank tone, causing him to shrug.

"Biases I got before I was turned into a demon," he admitted with a blush, honestly, the fact that he still held some of his older biases was something he now realized was rather embarrassing.

The look of amusement clear on the faces of all the Fae within his view only made him even more embarrassed.

"Tell me, are you planning on calling on your servants at any point?" the woman in a green dress asked easily, making him shake his head in the negative.

"Sorry, I gave them a choice of whether they wanted to come with me tonight or start on redecorating the Chamber of Secrets… they chose to redecorate," he admitted with an apologetic expression.

Even now that they were officially on good terms with each other, they were still uncomfortable being in such a powerful demon's presence.

He just hoped Moana wasn't going to add to much of her perverse nature into the decorations.

"Understandable," the fact that the blonde didn't consider it an insult that they were avoiding her only went to prove how normal it must be for demons to be uncomfortable around other, more powerful demons, "it takes a lot of effort to keep demons of varying levels of power together, it is one of the impressive feats of the cities in the vortex world… they manage to keep everyone together by collecting those with a similar philosophy."

He had to blink at that but shook his head clear of that thought, he could find out about that the next time he was in the vortex world.

And he would be going to the vortex world himself soon, he needed to train after all and where better than the one place where he had gained more strength that anywhere else?

He had already decided the weekend would be the perfect time to go, though he would try to go to Ginza again, he was uncertain he would survive long anywhere else at his current level.

XXX XXX XXX

Rachael Jones let out a yawn as she awoke in the Gryffindor tower before looking at the old pendulum clock that was located in the corner of the room and freezing.

It was half seven in the morning.

And the others were also waking up right about then as well… she couldn't stop herself from staring as she considered one simple fact.

She _never_ woke up this early... well, except the previous day… which just so happened to be her first day at Hogwarts.

She narrowed her eyes at that.

Was there some sort of silent, magical alarm clock that made her wake up on time?

"Morning," the quiet call from her roommates came out, it seemed she wasn't the only one unused to such early mornings.

"Morning," she decided to add her voice into the morning greetings.

Not that she expected to fit in with the others that stayed in the dormitory.

Just the previous day she had come to the conclusion that the only one in the room that wasn't a stereotypical girl was that Hermione girl… and she was a bookworm.

So not one of them would be the sort she would get along with, one was too focused on her studies and the others were more focussed on typical girl topics like boys, make up and gossip.

That's not to say she was expecting them to bully her, as long as she stayed out of their way then they wouldn't have much reason to do so after all.

That is, except for when they wanted to know what her connection to Harry was.

She had just given them the honest answer, they were childhood friends.

There really wasn't anything more to say about it, well, at least nothing more that she was prepared to tell them, after all there was no way she was going to just sit back and let them know that Harry was a demon and had other demons at his beck and call.

She quickly shook her head clear of those thoughts, she had other matters to attend to after all… namely getting ready for breakfast because unlike her best friend, she actually needed to eat and liked doing it as well.

Her stomach grumbled as she thought about what would be served for breakfast… she hoped they'd have bacon and eggs… oh and sausages too! Hell, why not just a full English Breakfast while she was at it!

Her pace quickened as she thought of all the wonderful food she could get to eat when she reached the Great Hall, pulling her clothes on easily before rushing out of the room, ignoring the looks of surprise on her roommates faces.

And with that, she rushed down the stairs ready to get to her morning meal before stalling…

And then mentally screaming at herself for forgetting her supplies for the day.

Turning around she returned to the room, noting the confused looks of her roommates.

"I forgot my things," she admitted with annoyance clear in her tone.

"Eh… what's the rush?" a girl with dirty blonde hair and brown eyes asked… Lavender Brown was her name if she remembered correctly.

"I want breakfast," she admitted while throwing what she needed into her bag carelessly.

The looks everyone else were giving her told her that she was the only one of those in her dorm that was enthusiastic about getting as much food as possible.

Then again, she never got anything more than cereal or toast for breakfast back home so she was just excited to get something different for a change.

And as soon as she had packed, she immediately left the room for the second time that morning, ready for her morning meal.

XXX XXX XXX

It didn't take long for her to reach the Great Hall, where she immediately looked for her first and only friend… only to note that he wasn't there.

That fact made her sigh in annoyance, she knew that he didn't really sleep so he should've been in the hall already… seriously, what else did he have to do?

So she just let out a sigh and moved towards the Gryffindor table like she was supposed to, noting the way some of the others were looking at her cautiously, then again, she already knew from the previous night that they weren't happy with the fact that she was friends with a 'slimy Slytherin'.

In the end, she just ignored them, taking a place at the table and piling food onto her plate, a smile gracing her lips as she noticed that she could indeed have a full English Breakfast.

After that, time seemed to pass by rapidly as more students poured into the Great Hall, taking their places at their house tables and piling food onto their own plates.

"Yo," and then she heard him.

"You took your time," her voice was thick with condescension, earning a chuckle off the demon that roamed the school in the guise of a student.

"Sorry, I was having tea in the forest," his answer was easy and she took a second to note exactly what he was saying.

"Wait! The forest is forbidden!" oh great, it seemed that Hermione was going to blow a gasket about him breaking school rules.

"So?" and just like that, he showed just how little he cared about the rules imposed on him.

"You were breaking the school rules! Again!" the bushy haired girl sounded angry, though the fact that she pointed out that he had done it before only made her smirk in amusement.

"And your point is what?" she almost snorted in amusement upon hearing him once again dismiss the fact he was breaking rules as unimportant.

"You're breaking the rules!" Hermione was definitely a teacher's pet, that much was for certain even the previous day but this was only making it even more clear to the rest of the house.

"You know, if you aren't going to make a _proper_ point, then I think this conversation has gone on too long already," and with that the demonic wizard turned away from the other girl and took a seat next to his first friend.

"I have transfiguration first thing, what about you?" she asked him curiously, earning a shrug off the young boy.

"Herbology," his response was laced with a complete lack of concern and she immediately came to a single conclusion about what he was planning to do.

"You don't plan on going do you?" she just knew how he was going to respond to that question.

"Nah, it's not something that can help me with my ambition," he admitted easily, obviously shocking the rest of the table.

"Your ambition?" Hermione asked with narrowed eyes, "is it really important enough for you to skip class for?"

It was clear that the book worm wasn't even remotely happy with his claim but unlike her dorm mate, she knew that Harry really wouldn't care one way or another… he had always been like that even during his days at primary school.

"You misunderstand, I'm only coming here for classes that can help me towards my ambition, not to learn for the sake of learning," that was a simple explanation and it seemed to anger the girl that really should've been sorted into Ravenclaw.

The bushy haired girl was definitely fuming at Harry's statement but apparently she didn't know of any way to counter it… it was definitely funny as far as she was concerned because it just went to prove that anyone with any sense of duty would be driven up the wall by her first friend.

Harry for his part simply chose to ignore the girl and her anger in favour of picking up one of the newspapers that had dropped in front of him.

The fact the demon was reading a newspaper wasn't really that big a surprise to her, she knew he liked to read the births and obituaries sections... he also liked to read the horoscopes just so he could laugh at how horribly vague they were and how they were completely wrong for him that day.

"Oh, that sucks," his muttering was heard clearly around the table, "they don't have horoscopes."

Rachael found herself letting out a snort of amusement at that statement.

And then something told her that it was time for class.

She didn't like it.

"Harry… why do I suddenly have this feeling that it is time for class?" she asked the dark haired boy seriously, "and for that matter, why was I awake before eight this morning?"

"Oh, it's just the bells going off," he stated easily, "since you aren't that magically sensitive you only feel the meaning that they're meant to convey… I keep getting this annoying ringing in my ears."

The blank expression he wore as he made that statement about what he heard nearly made her laugh.

However upon seeing most of the students getting up to leave the hall, she realised that she would have to go to class as well.

"Ah, mister Potter, do you have a few minutes? There is something I need to discuss with you," she was brought out of her thoughts by the voice of the teacher that had used force to try and control Harry.

"Yeah, sure, what do you want to talk about?" her best friend asked easily.

"Something that shouldn't be spoken of in public," it was clear to her then that the half goblin was going to talk to him about his status as a demon… she just hoped it wouldn't get out of hand, "please come with me."

And with that the boy proceeded to follow the shortest teacher out of the Great Hall, with Rachael following them with the intention of going to her first class of the day.

XXX XXX XXX

"So, what do you want to talk about professor Flitwick?" Harry found himself asking as he took a seat in the diminutive teachers office.

"I know you're a demon," the half goblin stated bluntly, something Harry only had one response to.

"You're half goblin, of course you can tell I'm a demon," it really wasn't a surprise to him that the shorter man knew, honestly he would've been far more surprised if the man hadn't been capable of telling the fact that he wasn't human.

"It is good that you were already aware of that possibility," the small man stated calmly, "however there is an issue."

Harry almost let out a sigh at that.

"So what? You don't like my behaviour? Is that it?" he asked with irritation clear in his voice, earning a sigh off the older individual.

"While your behaviour is difficult for my colleagues to deal with," Flitwick started, "that isn't why I asked to speak with you."

Harry found himself raising an eyebrow at that claim.

"The headmaster knows there is something… different about you," well, that was obvious, especially given how his pet Phoenix had seen him earlier, "the question however is simple, are you willing to let me tell him of your circumstances?"

"It was the guys at Gringotts that advised that I don't let everyone know I'm a demon in the first place," he stated bluntly, "if one of you wants to tell anyone else than I don't really care… though if the headmaster tries to do anything to me because I'm a demon… well, then I'll just have to kill him."

His statement seemed to amuse the shortest of the staff for some reason.

"Yes, I understand what you are saying, however the headmaster tends to be rather accepting of non-humans and I don't see why you would be any different," the charms master admitted with a grin gracing his lips.

"So, is that all? I've got things I want to do," the amber eyed boy asked easily.

"Does that include going to class?" the only teacher prepared to use force on him asked knowingly.

"Depends on the class," it was a simple admission and seemed to make the smaller of them sigh in disappointment.

"Tell me Mister Potter… why did you come to Hogwarts?" he raised an eyebrow at the half-goblins question but answered honestly anyway.

"To learn more about magic," he didn't understand why it mattered to the man in the first place but he was curious about where it would go.

"To what ends?" the question was both important but also not exactly something the diminutive man needed to know… but Harry decided to enlighten him.

"So I can find a way to kill the person that made me a demon," his admission made the older man release a sigh of defeat.

"I see, but what do you plan on doing after that?" he was beginning to grow weary of the questions being posed to him.

"I plan on travelling the multiverse," that seemed to raise an eyebrow off the man.

"The Multiverse?" he seemed unfamiliar with the term but continued anyway, "I take it that is a collection of parallel worlds?" he nodded his head in confirmation, "I see… and why do you want to travel?"

He was about to answer when he stalled.

Why _did_ he want to travel?

A frown started to mar his face as he thought over the reasons for that desire before a voice cut through his thoughts.

"So you don't know," it wasn't a question but a statement, "I'm not surprised."

He narrowed his eyes at that claim.

"You are so focused on your goal that you aren't thinking about why you do what you do," he looked away at that claim.

Because he knew it was true.

He let his instincts decide what he did, he didn't need to think about everything like most people did.

"I will ask this of you," the goblin started, "think about your reasons for wanting to travel and when you figure it out, tell me… until then, can you please go to class and try to listen to the teachers? Who knows, you may end up liking it all."

"… I'm not going to transfiguration," he stated after a few seconds, "or a history of magic."

"I can certainly understand your desire to not attend a history of magic… but I will have a word with Professor McGonagall about her handling of you," the only teacher he had any actual respect for stated, "she is so used to handling human children that she has no idea how to cope with a demon and their sensibilities."

"Oh, and how would you describe her methods?" he asked curiously.

"It is like she is trying to train young puppies, a harsh enough scolding is usually enough for the message to get through… the problem with that method is that you aren't a puppy but a dragon," the charms teacher stated with a certain amount of amusement in his tone at his own description, "when dealing with a dragon you need one of two things, to either beat it into submission… which isn't even remotely easy… or to give it something it wants in exchange for doing what you want it to."

"In other words, bribe it," he had to smirk at that description of how to deal with a demon.

"Exactly… and you are actually rather easy to bribe," that admission made him narrow his eyes, "after all, you are willing to listen in exchange for knowledge."

His expression grew blank at that statement… he really couldn't deny it without outright lying after all.

"Now, I believe you have a class to attend," the charms master stated before writing out a note, "just give this to your teacher and there shouldn't be an issue… just remember, think about why you want to travel."

And it was with a thoughtful expression that he took the note and made his way to the greenhouses… somewhere he had not intended on going until that conversation.

XXX XXX XXX

Harry had to admit, the thoughts that plagued his mind for the rest of the day bothered him.

He had always been focused on his goals, whether those goals were simply 'survive the Dursley's' or 'kill the Hitoshura' didn't matter, what mattered was that he had goals to work towards.

But now he was asked _why_ he worked towards those goals... and he couldn't really give an answer regardless of how much he wanted to.

That question had resulted in him sitting through Herbology, though he spent the class dwelling on that question.

Even now, as he sat himself down at that Slytherin table he wondered in silence.

"Hey Harry," he noted that Rachael had just made her presence known at the Slytherin table… though apparently the other members of the house had decided that they wouldn't push their luck and try to intimidate the girl that had the single most violent first year they had ever met protecting her.

"Hey," he muttered in response as he continued to think about that question… seriously, why did he want to travel?

"Okay… what's wrong?" his first friend asked him with concern clear in her tone.

"Huh?" he didn't know how to respond to that, mainly because no one had ever asked him that particular question.

"I've known you for years and I've never seen you look like that," her explanation made him frown slightly before he decided to simply give her the short version.

"Yeah, well I don't normally contemplate philosophy," the grimace that graced her lips at that claim made it clear that she had no intention of getting involved in that type of conversation.

"Uh… seriously? That's what's gotten you so depressed?" she asked him, earning a nod of confirmation in response.

"And what tradition are you thinking on?" another voice cut in, causing him to look and see that blonde girl that he had met in the common room on the first night of school.

"Existentialism," came his blunt reply, earning a small snort of amusement from the girl he still hadn't bothered remembering the name of.

"Wait, are you telling me that you're having an existential crisis?" she sounded incredibly amused by that thought.

"Less of a crisis and more of an irritation," he admitted honestly, he didn't feel the term crisis was appropriate for his annoyance at not knowing himself like a normal person should.

After all, what was it that made him tick?

"An existential irritation? I can't say I've ever heard of that phrase before," she still sounded amused, "are you willing to share why you're thinking about this stuff?"

"It's not much, Professor Flitwick just asked me a few questions… I couldn't answer the last one," he admitted, it didn't exactly make much difference to him in the end.

"What were the questions?" it was clear that she was trying to dig into his personality but in the end, it didn't matter if she did or not, as long as she knew not to pick a fight with him.

"What is your ambition, what do you plan on doing after you've completed it… and why," he admitted easily enough,

"So you don't know what you want to do after you've completed your ambition," the blonde Slytherin girl tried to summarize.

"No, I know what I want to do… I just can't figure out why," that seemed to gain the attention of everyone at the table.

"You can't figure out why?" the incredulousness in her tone was easily picked up on by her.

"I'm a creature of instinct, I don't normally think about why I do things," he explained with a shrug.

"I'm curious about your ambition," the other blond in his year asked… Malfoy if he remembered correctly.

"Oh, I just want to kill a certain someone," he answered casually.

Everyone that was listening seemed to accept it.. for all of about two seconds when they suddenly seemed to comprehend his words.

The choking and shocked stares he received then were actually rather amusing as far as he was concerned.

Then it seemed that everyone noticed his best friends lack of reaction to that statement.

"You don't seem surprised by that," the blonde girl that seemed less domineering than everyone else stated with obvious surprise in her tone.

"Well, yeah, I mean sure I only found out about it after becoming a witch but I always knew he was a bit more vicious than everyone else at school," Harry almost had to facepalm at her claim.

"Became a witch?" the incredulousness in the Slytherin girls tone was clear to everyone that was listening.

"She means, when she found out that she wa a witch," Harry stated with an amused smirk on his lips, "she doesn't seem to understand that you are either born with magic or without it… you don't just get it out of nowhere."

Sure he knew that was complete bull but he was more than willing to lie to cover up her decision to sell her soul to a demon… no matter how close she was to it.

His lie seemed to draw laughs from the others and an embarrassed blush from his friend in Gryffindor.

At least, from all but the blonde he still hadn't bothered to remember the name of.

"Regardless, I am surprised a Gryffindor is willing to associate with someone that _wants_ to be a murderer," her tone had gone from incredulous to far more serious now that the small slip up had been addressed.

"What's there to say?" Rachael asked with a shrug, "he wants to kill one person and with good reason too… it's not like he plans on slaughtering everyone around him… are you?"

He had to laugh at that last bit, namely because he knew she was joking.

"Who knows? It might be a good change of pace," he joked back, earning lots of nervous shifting from the other students at that table.

"A-are you being serious?" another of his year, this time a dark haired girl that was sitting next to the blonde, asked nervously.

"Oh come on, can't any of you take a joke?" he asked in disbelief, "in case you hadn't noticed, the only people I chose to break were those that picked a fight with me… or Rachael."

He noted the way that didn't seem to ease any of their worries but in the end, all he could do was shrug.

It was better for them to be wary of him than it was for them to be unconcerned about him after all.

It meant he wouldn't have to waste time breaking them when they stepped over the line in his sand.

Now… what was he thinking about again?

XXX XXX XXX

Albus Dumbledore could do nothing more than stare in shock at the half Goblin before him.

"Can you please repeat that?" he asked, praying that he had misheard his younger associate.

"Harry Potter is a demon," Filius stated with complete conviction in his tone, "I could tell as soon as he entered the castle that he wasn't human, his magic is just too inhuman to be anything else."

The headmaster felt the world collapsing around him as he took in that information.

Harry Potter, the scion of light, was a demon.

"And he allowed you to tell me this why?" he asked, if Harry really was a demon then it would probably mean the boy was far craftier than he initially expected him to be.

"Because he doesn't care if you know or not," he froze at that statement, "according to my cousin at Gringotts, he really is Harry James Potter but due to another demon's influence, he was turned into one against his will… and he doesn't even care if others know he is a demon."

Wait, that didn't sound right… usually demons were far more subtle about their natures, luring mortals into pacts or situations that would prove beneficial for the demon and usually, rather disastrous for the human in question.

"What do you mean he doesn't care if anyone knows he is a demon?" his question was the obvious one and Filius's response gave him pause.

"The boy introduced himself to the Goblins at Gringotts in the typical demon manner, literally giving them everything they needed to know about his nature without prompting," Albus found himself frowning at that thought, "the only reason he isn't doing that here is because my kind advised him to be less forthcoming about that information due to wizarding prejudice."

He frowned as he thought about the situation, it was clearly not something he was used to, outside of Fawkes's father, he had no experience with any other demons.

"And do you trust him Filius?" it was his final, most important question… he knew Filius to be a good judge of character, even if the man tried to remain impartial for the most part.

"Albus… he created a fully corporeal Patronus on his first try… and he didn't attempt to hold back anything from me when I spoke with him earlier," the younger of the two stated calmly, "he even admitted that his goal is to kill the demon that made him one."

Kill.

Albus found his world finally shattering upon hearing that statement.

Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, the beacon of hope for the side of light… aimed to kill someone.

He felt his tired body slumping as he wondered…

What had he done so wrong for the boy to turn out like that?


	17. Chapter 17

"Hello master, I hope you like what I've done with the place," a seductive call was what greeted Harry as he entered the Chamber Of Secrets after classes had finished.

The formerly large and gloomy chamber was now decorated with large torches that lit it up all the way to the ceiling, casting a warm glow on the expansive underground area that helped highlight some of the other… acquisitions his least scrupulous minion had made during the day.

Which included a large, scarlet, plush, corner sofa that took pride of place just at the feet of the giant Statue that depicted Salazar Slytherin, as well as a few bean bag chairs, a dinner table with several chairs… and there was a queen sized bed with crimson sheets and a clearly fake kitchen in a modern style.

"Moana… I thought I said no bedroom or kitchen," he deadpanned to the Lilim as she smirked at him coyly.

"Maybe now but I'm sure we can put them to good use when you finally say yes," she sounded more than happy with her decision and he decided to simply ignore it for the most part.

"Fine," he relented, the fact it was all stolen anyway meant it wasn't like it was a waste of his money… even if he could afford it if he wanted to.

Honestly having the ability to store objects in an extra-dimensional space made taking what they wanted so much easier.

"That you would allow _her_ to steal is unacceptable," he sighed with a slight hint of annoyance in his tone, he had already had the issue of Elisheva noting her displeasure at his decision to let the sex demon commit a crime.

"I know, I know, it will damn my soul and all that crap," he responded with an exasperated breath, "it's not like being a creature of chaos that completely destroys any fate attached to whatever he interacts with is bad enough… I have to allow theft as well."

He knew his sarcasm could use work but he supposed he managed to get his point across when the blindfolded being turned her head away from him in defeat.

"What's wrong?" the voice of his oldest companion called out, making him shrug noncommittally.

"Oh, I just have something on my mind," he admitted easily, "the charms teacher asked me a question I'm having trouble answering."

"So, where can you find the answer?" the little red skinned Jirae asked with confusion on her face, something he understood as her wondering what his problem with it was.

"Right here," he said pointing at his chest, "the question was about my motivations."

"Well you want to kill the Hitoshura right?" she sounded lost so he simply smiled in response.

"Yeah, but after that I want to travel," the explanation was short and simple, "and he asked me why I wanted to travel."

"So? What does it matter why you want to travel?" she seemed confused, "If you want to travel then why don't you just travel?"

It was a simple question and one that he understood from the more demonic side of him, however the human part of him found the question one that stuck with him and he knew why.

"Because there is a part of me that is still human," he admitted before expanding on that statement, "and not being able to answer that question grates on my human side."

"So it's a human thing?" she sounded far more understanding now, then again, she was the one with the most first-hand experience with him.

"Pretty much," he acknowledged easily before walking over to the sofa and flopping down on it and allowing a book on transfiguration to drop into his hand.

{Who is there?} he froze upon hearing the serpent tongue fill the air, {morsels? Yess… morsels for me to eat}.

{Oh shut up you stupid snake,} Harry called back with irritation as he wondered what had taken it so long to notice them.

{What was that?} the snake didn't sound threatening, more surprised that it's 'prey' had decided to talk back.

{I said shut up, I'm trying to get some reading done here,} he stated with annoyance clear in his tone before pulling out his wand and preparing the area just in front of the statue to receive the giant serpent.

{You… you arrogant little brat!} it definitely sounded pissed now and then he heard it make a statement from within the confines of its statue, {speak to me Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts four}

Harry had to raise an eyebrow at the fact that the snake knew how to open its own chamber, then again, there was quite a bit he didn't know about the snake... for example, why didn't it leave the chamber of secrets on a regular basis to feed and why did it obey the heir or Slytherin?

He heard the grinding of stone on stone as the mouth of the statue clearly opened and noted that the girls in the room had closed their eyes just in case… and then he heard it, a sharp hiss before silence.

"Elisheva… did it work?" he asked easily.

"It would appear so, however I believe I should cover its eyes just in case," and with that the blindfolded angel flew up to the mouth of the statue with a large sheet, resulting a rustling for several seconds before her voice cut in again, "it is done."

And with that, Harry looked up and saw that the giant snake was currently petrified in place with its head just poking out from the mouth of Slytherin… which gave him an idea.

"You know what… I think I know what to do with the carcass," and with a grin he got about to his initial plan, the giant mirror he transfigured in front of the opening forgotten for now as he got about doing something he thought was pretty fun.

XXX XXX XXX

Fred and George Weasley stalked through the corridors of Hogwarts as they made their way to the third floor corridor.

They had initially intended on going on the second night, they may have been hyperactive at times but even they found the train ride draining.

The problem was when they looked at the map they saw that there was a dot in the third floor corridor marked '?'.

That was not possible.

Someone, somehow, was capable of hiding their identity from the castle wards. That was not something they had ever encountered before and so they had decided to avoid this person like the plague… who knows what sort of dark magic they were practicing to be capable of hiding from the Marauders Map.

So they had avoided the corridor that night… they would've told someone about it if they weren't keeping the Map a closely guarded secret from even their best friend and roommate.

However tonight they would check it out, they would find out what it was that Dumbledore had warned them about and then see if they could get any good pranks out of it.

Getting to the corridor wasn't hard, not with the map warning them about everyone in the castle, including that dammed cat of Filch's… honestly no one would care if that cat was killed in some… accidental circumstances.

But right now they had to keep their minds clear as they were finally ready for the third floor corridor.

Fred had to frown at the fact a simple first year spell was all that was required to unlock the door and motioned for his brother to be careful… there was no way this was going to be that easy.

And so they threw open the door and peered inside, only for their eyes to widen at the sight of a _freaking Cerberus_ laying in the middle of the corridor.

Well at least now they knew why the headmaster had mentioned a painful death and they really didn't want to get torn apart by an overzealous, three headed guard dog.

So they shut the door quietly, praying the animal wouldn't notice them.

They let out a sigh of relief upon the door clicking shut and George reapplying the locking charm to ensure the door was as if it was untouched.

"What the hell was that?!" Fred almost screamed while still managing to make it a whisper.

"It was a Cerberus!" George managed the same feat himself as they continued to look at each other before taking deep breaths to stabilize their breathing and heart rates and then proceeded to bring out their most trusted tool and note the positions of any…

Oh…

Oh no…

It was back.

'?' was just about to enter the corridor and they didn't have enough time to escape, so they did the first thing that came to them naturally, they hid and prayed they were not noticed.

And then the owner of the unknown mark came into their view.

They blinked as they took note that the unknown marking was _Harry Potter_!

They couldn't stop their surprise from showing on their faces as they looked at each other for a split second before turning back to face the boy and jumping in shock.

"Yo, what are you guys doing here?" they both fell backwards at that question, how could a little first year (admittedly, one that could take a full powered blasting curse without any injuries) discover them so easily?

"Uh… we were just… just…" Fred didn't know what to say, however he was soon cut off by the amber eyed first year.

"Checking out the 'forbidden corridor'?" he could almost hear the amusement in the younger boys tone as he made that guess, "word of advice, don't bother, Fido probably won't let you down the trap door."

Fred froze at that statement and was reminded of exactly who he was dealing with.

This was the guy that had _been in the third floor corridor the night before_.

There was still the question of how the younger boy had managed to hide his identity from the Marauders Map.

But in order to question him on it, he would have to reveal the existence of the map itself and he wasn't certain he was prepared to do that for anyone… let alone a Slytherin.

That was probably the single most horrifying thing about this, knowing that _the_ Harry Potter was a Slytherin… admittedly he seemed to have issues with the rest of his house but he was a Slytherin none the less and you could never trust one of them.

He finally managed to get his head on straight and noted something that caught his attention.

"What do you mean trap door?" he questioned the boy with a frown marring his face, he had been more focused on the teeth to worry about what was around the exceptionally dangerous beast.

"Fido's guarding a trap door… don't know what's down it since I've never gone down myself," he wasn't surprised by that, the thought of the boy willingly going into the corridor to try and get past the Cerberus was just plain stupid after all, "by the way, do you guys know of any use for a Basilisk carcass? Without the head that is."

"Uh… what?" George seemed just as stumped as he was, then again it wasn't every day you were asked about Basilisks.

"Well, I ended up killing one a few hours ago and I was planning on mounting the head but I don't know what use the rest of the body is," that… wasn't possible, there was no way a single wizard could possibly kill a Basilisk on their own.

"That's impossible," he finally decided to state, "Basilisks have major resistance to magic and they can kill with a single look."

"Yes, that's why I learned how to transfigure mirrors," and with that blunt statement Fred found himself gawking at the boy before him.

A _mirror_.. he killed a Basilisk with a _mirror_?

He couldn't stop the laugh that started to escape his lips and noted that his brother was also having the same issue.

"Well… do you know?" the boy asked bluntly again, causing him to shake his head, he really didn't know what use a Basilisk corpse was, they were bloody rare after all, "oh, that's a shame."

And with that the boy turned towards the door they had just locked.

"H-hey! What are you doing?" George was the first of the two to recover but Fred found himself lunging at the boy to stop him from unlocking the door and walking to his death.

"Going to say hi to Fido," the dark haired boy didn't seem to understand just how stupid his idea was, "he may look intimidating but he's really quite the wimp… I've decided I'm going to work on making him toughen up."

Fred found himself lost for words as the younger boy made that claim, seriously… didn't this kid know that he was going to get eaten if he went in there?

His eyes widened as he felt the other boy casually remove his grip and unlock the door and swing it open with a loud thud.

Almost immediately his eyes widened upon seeing the three headed dog jerk awake with a growl before taking one look at the boy with the lightning bolt shaped scar and immediately start whimpering and cowering at the back of the room.

Any previous thoughts of fear were dispelled upon seeing the massive beast of Greek Mythology trying to make itself seem as small as possible while the amber eyed boy calmly walked up to it and then started to do something he never thought he would ever see.

Fred simply couldn't stop himself from gaping upon seeing the young boy attempting to _train_ the three headed dog to _attack_ … that was when he finally understood, this Harry Potter was a more vicious version of Hagrid.

And then the boy started to growl, shake and bark at the giant dog that started to meekly respond and Fred found his jaw hitting the floor while his brother joined him.

Was Harry Potter _talking_ with a Cerberus?  
That… that wasn't possible… but then again, it was also impossible to hide from the Marauders Map and he somehow managed to fool the identification wards of the castle.

It was then that he came to a single conclusion…

Harry Potter was the closest thing to a monster they had ever seen.

XXX XXX XXX

The next morning was pretty simple as far as Harry was concerned.

Sure those two red heads now knew that he was training the Cerberus in the third floor corridor but that wasn't really important as far as he was concerned.

Right now the important part was that he was still nowhere close to figuring out why he wanted to travel.

So he would continue going to class.

"It's potions first," Draco Malfoy stated with a smug air about him, "that means we'll beat those Gryffindors in no time."

Harry really didn't understand the house points system… well, sure he knew how it worked, you gained points for good behaviour and lost them for bad behaviour… that didn't change the fact that he didn't understand _why_ it worked.

What use were the points in the long run? What did gaining them do for you? From what he could tell, the answer was nothing.

And he wasn't prepared to monitor his behaviour for nothing.

The fact that everyone was now looking at him cautiously after Draco made his claim told him that they were cautious about the points system around him.

"What? Don't tell me you honestly think I care about something like that?" he asked with a raised eyebrow and an amused smile.

"You don't care?" that blonde girl that kept talking to him asked with a hint of surprise in her tone, "I thought you wanted Gryffindor to win the house cup."

"No, what does the house cup even do?" he asked easily, "does it make your magic stronger… or give you access to the restricted section in the library or something useful like that?"

"It's about pride," Malfoy stated seriously, earning a blank stare in response.

"Again, why should I care?" the shocked expressions he received from the rest of the table were enough to tell him that they didn't understand why he didn't care so he decided to elaborate, "I mean seriously, I already know I can break pretty much everyone in this school without much effort, why do I need a trophy to say I'm good?"

That seemed to get through to the rest of the students that heard him, he already had such confidence in his own abilities compared to these mere mortals that he had no reason to lower and debase himself before them just to gain their recognition.

Not that it mattered in the end, his goal had always been to learn what he could and see if it could help him kill the Hitoshura… and he honestly didn't know what else mattered in his life right then.

Before anything else could be said however, his ears were filled with a loud ringing that he _knew_ the other students couldn't actually hear but would notice, telling them that classes were due to start.

And so he got out of his seat and prepared himself for the first lesson of the day… Potions.

XXX XXX XXX

Daphne Greengrass didn't know what to think as she followed the amber eyed Potter down to the dungeons.

She, unlike many others hadn't expected him to care about the house point system, the fact was that he was simply too confident to care about something like that… not that his confidence was unwarranted, he was clearly on another level to any person she had ever seen but the fact remained that his confidence was bordering on arrogance.

And unfortunately for him, the next teacher would be Severus Snape… a former death eater and someone her parents had warned her about.

It was a common misconception that all Slytherin Purebloods were dark or death eaters but her parents were most certainly not the type that could be put into those two categories… no, her family was a neutral household, one that favoured political power and maximising the profit from their investments.

That's not to say they were the sort to go out of their way to help others like the so called 'light' families but they knew that muggleborns were useful for bringing money into the wizarding economy and had sometimes been called 'blood traitors' in private due to that reason.

But being pragmatic was not the same as being a philanthropist and her parents were most certainly pragmatic… the betrothal between her little sister and the scion of Malfoy was one of those matters that had been decided for such reasons.

Honestly she didn't know if she could do the same thing if it was ever required of her, she was simply too emotionally attached to certain others to simply trade them away for access to new resources.

But none of that really mattered just then, what mattered was that a former Death Eater was going to be teaching the class of the boy-who-lived and she honestly didn't know how it would end.

What she was certain of though was that it all depended on the teacher himself.

After all, unless Snape was prepared to use the Killing Curse on the boy, she doubted he would be capable of subduing him because despite what professor Flitwick stated, she was certain Harry Potter wasn't human.

There was simply no way a human could get up so easily after taking a blasting curse, even if the force of the impact was reduced, the crash he had afterwards should've at least caused bruising, if not broken some of his bones… and she was certain he hadn't taken a decreased amount of damage from the initial casting because of the simple fact that he _had_ gone flying across the room.

She would admit that she was nervous of Potter, even now it was like trying to keep a dragon in check for the staff… and he wasn't even matured yet so just how dangerous would he be once he had grown and developed more power?

However she wasn't outright terrified of him, despite his initial claims to her that first night after everyone had gone to bed, he didn't seem to be the sort to actually do anything for minor reasons.

Even when he stormed out of Transfiguration, it was because the teacher was trying to stifle his advancement through the curriculum, which given his talent in charms only made it more clear that he really _was_ talented enough to advance beyond the regular curriculum… then again, his display in Transfiguration itself was proof that he was more skilled than he should be, since according to the textbook, changing the size of an object was incredibly difficult.

Of course there was the complication that had arisen due to informing her parents about the recent events and the suspicions she had about the boy.

To think that the people that had raised her wanted her to attempt to extract as much information from the boy as possible… and gain his affection.

She knew it was a pragmatic choice, if he was wrapped around her finger then they could use him for whatever purposes they desired and he would willingly obey.

The problem was getting him to care about her in any way, shape or form.

Hell, she wasn't sure he even knew her name.

She thought about what she could do to learn if he knew anything about her and in the end, there was actually only one way she could think of, a way she didn't know if the boy would suspect anything from her or just answer honestly.

But it was her only real choice in this situation.

"So Potter," she called out as she walked over next to him, making him turn and face her with an amused grin on his face, "I know who you are… but do you know who I am?"

"You're the girl I spoke to on the first night… don't know your name though," he admitted with a shocking level of frankness but she quickly caught herself.

"Daphne, Daphne Greengrass," she informed him with as much confidence in her tone as possible.

"Daphne, a Naiad from Greek Mythology who was so beautiful the sun god Apollo stalked her till she got transformed into a tree," she had to blink at that quick description of the name she had.

"You seem awfully knowledgeable about that," she started to dig a little deeper.

"I study mythology in my free time," he admitted with a shrug, "you never know when you'll come across something greater than yourself and need to know its myth to get past it, just look at Fido on the third floor corridor, all you have to do is play him some music and he falls asleep like a brick."

She had to blink at that claim, what was it in the third floor corridor and why was Potter calling it Fido?

"So what is it?" she asked curiously, earning a small shrug off the amber eyed boy.

"Just a Cerberus," she nodded at that before freezing in shock.

Was he serious?

There was a Cerberus in the school?

There was no way that was safe.

"Are you serious?" she just had to ask him, there was no way the headmaster could get away with such a thing in a school full of children.

"Yeah, that's why I call him CSK," he stated easily, making her furrow her brow, "Closet Serial Killer."

She found herself nearly choking at his description of the headmaster as she decided she would look in the corridor… preferably with the boy there for protection, and then inform her parents with he was right.

"Can you take me to see it?" she asked him, earning a shrug off the boy.

"If you don't mind breaking curfew," he admitted with ease, earning a small smile from her in the process.

"You have a deal," besides, it would give her an opportunity to dig deeper and see what sorts of secrets he was hiding… and if she would be capable of manipulating him like her parents wanted.

They finally arrived at the door to the potions classroom and immediately entered before taking a seat.

And she made sure to sit next to the boy and just before that nondescript girl he always hung around managed to catch up with him.

Honestly the fact that she hadn't arrived sooner was rather surprising given how she was usually around the dark haired boy like a leech.

"Hey, I wanted to sit next to Harry," the brunette moaned loudly and she found herself about to answer when the boy next to her cut her off.

"You just want me to do all the work for you," his voice wasn't chastising, more a matter of amused, "find someone that you actually have to work with."

She found herself almost gaping at him, they were friends and yet he seemed to enjoy seeing the girl have trouble?

"Why you," the girl pouted as she left to find another student, eventually ending up seated with the Longbottom heir.

"She didn't seem to put up much of a fight," she commented as lightly as she could, earning a small chuckle from the boy she was seated wiith.

"She's used to it," his statement made her eyes widen in shock before he continued, "she wants me to do all her schoolwork for her and I want her to learn how to do it on her own."

"So, do you know why she wasn't with you this morning?" she asked, wondering if it was a regular occurrence.

"Oh, the Weasley Twins apprehended her before she could make it to the table," his statement made her stall for a few seconds before her brain finally registered what he just said.

"And you're alright with that?" she was definitely curious, back when Nott had tried something with the girl, it had taken a blasting curse to the chest for him to finally let go and even then it seemed that he only stepped down due to professor Flitwick already showing that he was worthy of his respect.

"There wasn't any hostility so it was all good," he responded easily, "plus, she could really do with making a new friend… even I have more friends than her and I'm antisocial."

She could only stare in disbelief at the boy before her.

To think she had initially thought he was just a savage brute that would crush everyone else under his heel just because he could… and then he went and showed that there were people he truly did care about and that he could detect the lack of hostility in a person's actions

And then the door slammed open and the potions master practically flowed into the room like a wave of darkness, silencing everyone from their inane chatter.

She found herself transfixed on the man and his intimidating presence as he walked to the front of the class and immediately started to speak the names on the roll call.

His tone was truly amazing, the way he managed to make the names of every Gryffindor sound like a personal insult… until he came to Potters name.

"Ah yes… Mister Potter, our newest troublemaker," he spoke with a venom in his tone that made it clear the man had some issues with the dark haired boy, "I do not know what makes you think you can get away with whatever you want but in this class, you will do as you are told or face the consequences."

"Really…" the amber eyed boy responded with amusement in his tone, "and who's going to make me?"

This was not looking good, not good at all.

"Detention for back talking," the teacher stated clearly, earning a snort of amusement from the dark haired boy.

"And what makes you think I'll go to detention?" it was clear that Potter found this situation amusing as opposed to scary like most students would.

"If you don't want to go to detention then I will _make_ you go to it _boy_ ," the venom in the death eaters voice was clear for the entire class to hear.

"Try it."

XXX XXX XXX

"Mister Potter… do you know why you are here?" Albus Dumbledore did not know what to make of this current situation… to think he had forgotten to warn Severus about the boy before him.

"Is it to do with that prophecy you're obsessed with?" the boy responded bluntly causing his mind to stall at the implications of what he'd just heard.

"W-what did you just say?" he had to ask the boy to repeat what he had said, after all, there was simply no way the boy should've known about the prophecy… except the boy wasn't a boy but a demon, was there something inherent about that species that made them know about prophecies?

"About the Prophecy?" the boy mentioned it so casually that he couldn't stop himself from swallowing nervously at the implications.

"How do you know about that?" he asked with a racing heart.

"A little birdy told me," wait, someone told him?

"Who? Who told you about the prophecy?" his question was major, he needed to know how many other people had the potential of knowing about the prophecy.

"Fawkes," his mind froze at that, "he came to me a couple of nights ago about my status and told me that there was a prophecy you are obsessing over."

"I… see," that was strange, Fawkes couldn't speak a human tongue so how could he and the firebird possibly talk with each other… unless, "does that mean you can understand Phoenix Song?"

"I'm a demon, I have a natural understanding of _every_ language in the world… I've even talked to that Cerberus in the third floor corridor," well, that was a useful piece of information to know.

"I see… however the prophecy is not what I called you here for today," he finally stated, "I called you here today because of what happened in potions."

"What about it?" he felt a migraine come on as he realised the boy didn't even realise what he had done wrong.

"Mr Potter… professor Snape is currently in the hospital wing with thirty seven broken bones, a puncture lung, bruised intestines and a ruptured spleen," he stated as bluntly as he could.

"So…" it was clear the boy was waiting for him to complete the sentence for him.

"Mister Potter, you cannot just go around hospitalising members of staff," he stated seriously, earning a blank stare in response.

"He picked that fight, I just ended it."

Albus just knew his headache was only going to get worse.


	18. Chapter 18

Daphne felt her heart race as she snuck out of her dormitory later that night.

Honestly, she knew she was risking it by leaving with Potter to see the third floor corridor but if there really was a Cerberus there then she needed to know for certain so she could tell her parents.

And if it was true then Dumbledore would have a lot to answer for.

It was one thing for a dangerous forest to surround an ancient castle that was used as a school, it was another thing entirely to place a Cerberus in the middle of a school full of curious children.

Reaching the common room she saw that Potter was right there waiting for her with a bored expression on his face.

"So, are you ready?" he called out to her easily, causing her to nod in confirmation, "good, I don't normally waste my time here."

She blanched at that claim, wondering just what he meant.

"What do you mean?" she asked hoping to gain a bit of insight into the boy that tended to do his own thing whenever he wanted.

"I usually spend my free time in the library, third floor corridor, chamber of secrets or forbidden forest," she found herself stalling at that claim, it sounded like he didn't spend any time in his dorm at all.

Wait, did he just say….

"The Chamber Of Secrets?" she had heard of that term before, it was supposed to be little more than a legend from the era of the founders, there was no way he would be capable of finding something like that, especially not so soon after starting school.

"Yep, it's pretty cool, made it my own private room," he admitted casually, making her freeze for a couple of seconds before a certain question popped into her head.

"And how did you find it?" she had heard that plenty of people had searched for the Chamber but none had succeeded so why would he succeed while others failed?

"Elisheva told me where it is," his statement caught her off guard, the simple fact was that she had never heard that name before and Potter seemed to be close to this person.

"So you were told about it before you started at Hogwarts?" she asked for clarification, earning a nod in acknowledgement.

"Yeah, I would've never found it otherwise, I mean seriously, would you have expected the entrance to be located in the second floor girl's bathroom?" it took her a couple of seconds to realise what he was saying.

"You mean you just walk into a girl's bathroom whenever you want?" she asked with a certain level of concern in her voice.

"Only that one and Myrtle's agreed to keeping others out," he admitted easily.

"Myrtle?" that was not a name she was familiar with.

"The ghost of a girl that died because of the Basilisk in the Chamber Of Secrets," he admitted easily.

Wait.

Did he just say…

"Basilisk?" she asked for confirmation.

"Yeah, there was a Basilisk down there, it's dead now so there's nothing to worry about," the ease with which he made that claim only made her question the statement again.

"Really, and how did it die?" she asked him with a raised eyebrow.

"Death by mirror," his statement made her pause before she started to force a laugh down… she was the heir to the pureblooded Greengrass family and she was not supposed to laugh in public.

"Anyway, come on, I've got Fido to train, then I've got something to do in the forbidden forest before I leave for the weekend," he started before moving towards the exit of the common room.

Leave for the weekend?

"Wait, what do you mean leave for the weekend?" she couldn't believe he actually thought he could leave so easily… then again, he had completely destroyed Professor Snape when they had their short confrontation.

"I have something to do so I'm leaving for a while," he stated easily.

"You would seriously just leave like that?" she was still having trouble wrapping her head around that concept, then again, she was still wrapping her head around the concept of a student sending a teacher to the hospital… which also raised another question she planned on asking him at some point.

However, right now she followed him out into the hallways and towards the most dangerous creature she would ever see.

"Well, I'm only going for the weekend so it shouldn't matter all that much," his response was simple and she found herself wondering if he had any intention of being anything other than aloof around her.

"I see," she responded to his answer, honestly she knew that trying to pry too much too soon was one of the easiest ways to get a person to shut their mouth and she had no intention of making him clam up on her at all, let alone so soon.

So she simply followed him to the third floor corridor.

XXX XXX XXX

She couldn't believe what she was seeing.

To think that 'Fido' really was a Cerberus… and the three headed dog was scared of Potter.

That was the icing on the cake of her thoughts about his lack of humanity, there was no way a five X rated dangerous beast would be scared of a wizard, it was like a Tiger being scared of a grasshopper.

So it just further cemented the fact that the boy she was with wasn't human.

And she found herself blurting out the thought on her mind before she could stop herself.

"What are you?" she covered her mouth at that, there was no way she was going to get away with that question.

"A demon," she blinked at that response.

"What?" she really couldn't believe what she had just heard, he didn't sound at all angry with her and on top of that, he said something she had never thought she would hear.

"You asked what I am," he stated easily, "and I am a demon."

She couldn't stop herself from freezing at that, there was no way she had been expecting a response like that… it was just far too forthcoming to be true.

"Stop lying," she demanded firmly, "if you don't want to tell me then just say so… but don't treat me like a fool."

"I wasn't," he said with a shrug before going back to training the dog seated before him.

She had to blink at that before furrowing her brow… he was treating her just like he did normally, simply ignoring her.

Honestly she wasn't used to such treatment, because of her status as a pureblood she tended to be right in the centre of attention whether she wanted it or not… and then there was the other option, the fact that she lived up to her name by being incredibly beautiful for her age, though she knew she would never outclass something like a Veela… she was limited to a human beauty after all.

But he didn't seem to notice or care about that, to him she was just another face in the crowd, someone he had met but that was it.

If she was being honest with herself it was a bit of a sting to her pride, to be seen as nothing more than another person was not something she was used to.

But then again, was it really that bad?

She continued to watch him train the dog before noting something that really caught her attention.

"Are you speaking Lupustongue?" the question came out of her mouth in her surprise at seeing him have what appeared to be a conversation with the Cerberus.

"Hm?" he didn't really respond to her outside of sending her a questioning glance.

"I mean, are you speaking dog language?" she reasserted herself, earning a sigh of understanding from the boy.

"Yep," and with that confirmation he simply returned his attention towards the three headed dog.

She found herself staring at him blankly at his complete lack of concern over the ability to talk to dogs, seriously, it was completely unheard of outside of fiction and here he was doing it casually.

Honestly, she was certain now that nothing more he could do would surprise her.

And so she continued to watch him as he dealt with the dog, wondering just how long it would be before she was returned to the Slytherin common room.

XXX XXX XXX

Harry had to admit that taking that girl to Fido wasn't the worst thing he'd ever done, then again it was just so much fun to watch her reactions to his normal routine.

Though he did take her back to the Slytherin dormitory before leaving and entering the forbidden forest once again.

"So you will be leaving for Ginza soon?" the blonde queen asked as she sipped on some expensive herbal tea infused with Magatsuhi.

"Yes, I need to get stronger and going back to the vortex world is the only way I can think of to do so," he admitted before taking a sip of his own cup of the tea.

"It is understandable, however I will say this," she seemed far more serious now than he usually saw her, "be careful, while my husband may not leave Yoyogi park, his right hand man does and Setanta is not an opponent to take lightly."

Harry found himself growing nervous at that statement, he had indeed read up on the Hound Of Chulainn and knew that the man would most likely not be an easy foe if he was a demon.

It was actually quite a strange feeling if he was honest with himself, even here, in a school filled with magic he had nothing to fear, there was simply nothing powerful enough to be considered a threat to him and the one thing that could've potentially been a threat had such a glaring weakness that it was even worth mentioning.

But in the vortex world, he had to be careful. Everything there was a threat to him and that only made it even more clear that he needed more training, he needed to become more powerful despite his complete domination of his home worlds wizarding population because he wasn't facing his home world… he was facing an enemy with multiversal power.

"I understand," he admitted to the fair queen as he finished off his cup, "I'll try to avoid getting into a fight with him but if I don't know where he will be, then I can't really do anything to stop us from meeting."

"If you face him, then you must run," she stated firmly, "he is not a foe you can hope to defeat at your current level, even with your allies at your side."

He found himself nervously swallowing at that claim, he knew that the woman before him wouldn't lie about something like that and he had no intention of getting himself killed… but there was really only so much he could do to protect himself when his enemy could appear at any point in time.

And then there was the question of whether he _could_ run, if this opponent was really that dangerous then wouldn't the hound be faster than him?

But then… his mind focused on the myth and a smirk graced his face.

"Titania, can I ask you if he has any Geis?" and with that a plan was formed for if he was ever forced to face the hound of Ulster.

XXX XXX XXX

Harry had to admit that Ginza looked just like it did the last time he visited it, large, populated with demons and surprisingly bright.

The fountain that stood in the middle of the section where the terminal was located only helped make it look even more beautiful than it had any right to be.

But that didn't really matter when compared to the fact that he was currently searching for opponents that wouldn't slaughter him if he fought them.

Thanks to Marogareh, he could tell he was no match for the Oni yet, though most of the others would be difficult battles if he picked a fight with them, what with most of the foes being a bit stronger than him and working in groups as well.

If it wasn't for them apparently working in groups then he wouldn't have a problem dealing with them but facing several enemies stronger than him at the same time was not a good idea when he was the strongest of his group.

That wasn't to say there weren't foes he could beat, just that he had to be careful he wasn't going to get in over his head and die.

So he started to walk, knowing that his combat potential wasn't as high as normal but he didn't have any weaknesses to take advantage of either, meaning he wouldn't be caught with his pants down by an enemy using an element that worked better on him than normal.

He had already had the horrific experience of taking a few Zio's the face when he was weak to them after all and despite it turning out exceptionally well for him back then… he had no intention of repeating that experience.

So he walked with the simplest of the Magatama burrowed in his flesh, giving him what was probably one of the most general purpose enhancements of all his magatama.

The problem would be with his inability to use…

He blinked at that thought.

Why could he remember how to use his fire breath, ice breath and dia skills?

He focused on the flow of magic and released a small puff, shocking himself with the fact that fire actually did come from his mouth.

"I did not know I could do that without Shiranui," he muttered quietly before letting out a breath of ice just as easily.

"Well, I guess you have been using them a lot so I guess it's only natural for you to memorize how to use them," Jiao said from her place on his shoulder.

"I guess so, it's still a shock though," he admitted before once again looking at his potential foes and searching for a group he wouldn't have too much trouble with.

The search didn't take that long, mainly because he ended up getting attacked first.

The first of the group was a demon that looked like a floating pumpkin wearing a dark wizard style hat, a matching cloak, carrying a lantern in one of its disembodied hands while fire burned from its sockets.

The second of the three was a large woman with dark grey skin, wearing a skirt that looked like it was made out of ribs, a large head piece made out of skulls that fell over her breasts. Her hair was pitch black and fell over her chest and under her headpiece, while her teeth were clearly fanged. She also happened to have four arms, each one holding a large sword ready to swing at any moment.

The last was a large horse like creature with black fur, with a white mane and tail, alongside two massive, green horns that curved backwards along its head..

The fact that he was now up against a Pyro Jack, Taraka and a Bicorn didn't ease any of his worries about the fight that was to come.

He could tell that all three of them were stronger than him, however the magatama imparted instincts took over and told him that these enemies weren't as dangerous as he would initially expect.

It wasn't because they weren't powerful, but because they had weaknesses he could easily exploit and having already experienced the danger of facing an opponent that could take advantage of his weaknesses, he knew just how important that could be.

He wasn't even remotely surprised at the fact that the enemies tried to strike hard and fast without giving him a chance to react.

Unfortunately for them, they tried to attack his comrades first.

With a great exhale, he unleashed his chilling frost breath at the foes, clearly surprising them as his attack stopped their assault in its tracks and clearly caused the Jack and Taraka significant pain, the Bicorn however didn't show anywhere near as much discomfort from the attack, something he had been fully expecting.

"Moana, it's weak to electricity," he stated calmly, earning a grin from the Lilim before she unleashed her own wide area attack, Mazio.

It was no surprise when the horse like creature reeled back in response to the attack and Harry decided to try and take advantage of its shocked state.

"Elisheva, use Hama!" and just as he commanded, the white winged angel proceeded to use the expel type attack on the frozen Bicorn.

The result was obvious as the dark furred equine was engulfed by the light as its body was reduced to nothingness with the exception of a mass of Magatsuhi.

Harry couldn't stop the smirk from gracing his face before he once again turned his attention to the other two demons that had tried to attack his group.

The fact that they appeared to have finally recovered and where now preparing themselves to attack, with the Pyro Jack gathering up a flame while the Taraka prepared her blades to become a flurry of motion.

So he exhaled once again,, though this time the Taraka dodged to the left and he only managed to hit the Pyro Jack, though the Taraka soon found itself taking a strike from Moana and Jiao, though they clearly didn't cause particularly massive amounts of damage.

The Pyro Jack however simply ended up falling before Harry charged it and struck it with his fist, easily finishing it off, upon which Harry once again turned to the Taraka and found it pushing back the other three.

He noted how the skull wearing woman was clearly overpowering the others but it didn't matter in the end, he was sure he would be capable of fighting well enough to get a few more shots in and finish it off.

"Everyone, back off," and with that, he charged with his fist cocked back, ready to strike the foe.

He could feel the blades slice through his skin, however he also knew that the cuts weren't deep and that he wouldn't have to worry about them since his skin and muscle was proving tough enough to block most of the force being applied… had it been a human taking those strikes they would've been torn through like a chainsaw through toilet paper, however none of them hit hard enough to cripple him in any way, even if they were painful.

So he lunged at the foes gut, knocking it back a few steps before unleashing his breath attack on it yet again.

He released a sigh of relief upon seeing the demon disperse into a large mass of Magatsuhi before turning to the other members of his team and noting that they all seemed to be collecting the other dispersed piles of emotion and bringing them to him now that the battle was over.

He idly wondered why none of the other demons in the area had interfered but in the end, he was beginning to think it was normal for such a thing to occur given how the same thing had happened the last time he had been there.

"Thank you Moana, Jiao, Elisheva," he stated with a smile while accepting the energy and combining it all into a single pile before splitting it into four equal parts and handing each quarter to one of his underlings while keeping one to himself.

And with that the group proceeded to quickly eat the collected energy, feeling it flow through them as they savoured the benefits of eating the power.

"If you are finished with your meal," a cold voice called out from behind him, "I need to have a word with you."

Harry turned to face the newcomer and immediately found himself growing nervous upon seeing the owner of the voice.

XXX XXX XXX

This was not what Harry intended to happen when he came to the Vortex World.

He had never been to Nyx's lounge before but the journey there had been completely free of conflict due to the being that had taken him there for a few words.

They looked almost like a human woman, if it wasn't the the green tinge to her skin, the golden armour and the large white wings that erupted from her back… none of those features detracted from her beauty however, then again, what else could be said about the Archangel Gabriel?

The fact that he was currently sitting at the other side of a table to her in what was essentially a diner, didn't help matters as far as he was concerned.

Silence reigned as the Archangel stared at him firmly and he found himself fidgeting at the instinctual knowledge that if he got into a fight with her, he would be destroyed in an instant regardless of his luck or skill, the power gap was simply too great to be breached by him.

"Tell me Harry James Potter," she started, making his eyes widen in shock at her knowing exactly who he was, "do you know how much you are damaging your own timeline simply by existing?"

He found himself cringing at that, he knew he would damage the timeline simply because the Amala Network wouldn't be capable of predicting him or factoring his actions into anything it tried to calculate.

The problem was that there wasn't any way he knew of to correct that issue.

"Yes…" he finally admitted, "but I don't know what else I can do."

The angel seemed to analyse him for a few seconds before making a statement.

"You were supposed to kill the Basilisk at the end of your second year with the Sword Of Gryffindor," he jerked at that statement, "that you have killed it already has created an issue with future events."

He cringed at that statement, earning a nod off the green skinned woman.

"It is good that you understand how much damage you are causing," she stated bluntly, "at the end of your first year, you are supposed to face Quirinus Quirrell before the Mirror Of Erised and kill him."

He found himself frowning at her claim.

"Why are you telling me this?" he didn't understand why she was telling him about his destined future.

"So you may act upon the knowledge," she informed him easily, "events of your second year have already been damaged beyond repair with your slaying of the Basilisk and commandeering of the Chamber Of Secrets, however your first year is still mostly intact… outside of the presence of those Fae in the Forbidden Forest."

Her explanation made a certain level of sense to him so far.

"I would advise that you start to study divination," she recommended, making him frown in confusion, "combining divination with your knowledge of the Amala Network should allow you to access in information on your destiny and work towards enacting it."

He finally understood exactly what she was informing him and he found himself letting out a wry grin.

"So you're saying you want me to fulfil my destiny as much as possible right?" he asked, earning a nod of confirmation from the Archangel, "and what do I get out of this?"

Her expression didn't change as she made a simple claim, "you get to avoid destruction."

He simply sighed in response to that claim.

"Look Gabby," he noted the way she twitched when he spoke her name that way, "my goal is to kill the Hitoshura… and I've heard that he beat the crap out of you, Raphael and Uriel at the same time when he was younger and weaker than he is now… do you really think I'm not prepared to get strong enough to defeat every Archangel at the same time?"

"Are you threatening me?" she asked with no difference in her manner of speaking towards him, clearly she didn't consider his statement as a problem just yet.

"No, I'm simply telling you that sooner or later, I'll become strong enough to defeat every one of your group," he stated bluntly, causing her eyes to narrow slightly, "so wouldn't it be better for us to have a mutually beneficial relationship?"

"That you believe you have anything of substance to stand upon is proof of your foolishness," she stated seriously, "you shall either comply or face destruction, there is no middle ground."

And with that statement, the Archangel rose from her seat and gave him a cold glare.

"Make your decision, once you embrace Chaos, I shall annihilate you with my own two hands," and with that, the only female Archangel left the lounge to parts unknown to him.

"My, you must be important if she chose to spare you just then," the voice of the matron called out causing him to release a nervous chuckle before moving over to the bar for a conversation.

The matron was, just like many other female demons, rather attractive. Her skin was a light violet, while her hair was blonde and styled into something that was similar to a flat top but didn't remain the same height all the way around. To top it off, she wore a black robe that showed plenty of skin and had a large fur collar that almost hid her neck.

"Back in my home world there is a prophecy about me," he decided to tell her, the fact that one of the rules written on the very door of the lounge was 'no violence', meant he wasn't concerned about the Goddess attacking him over it.

"I thought it was strange to see a second Hitoshura when there are no humans left to turn into one," she seemed amused as she made that statement, "but if you are from another world then that explains how you came to be."

He nodded before noting how she placed a drink before him.

"You seem pretty knowledgeable about the Hitoshura," he observed as he accepted the drink and gave it a sip, shivering upon feeling the burning sensation that accompanied the sweet taste, "what is this?"

"A mug of mead, to help you relax a little after dealing with 'Gabby'," she sounded amused when she made that claim, "the Archangels have never been the same since Aleph killed Yahweh."

Harry found himself choking on that information.

"Wait, did you just say someone _killed_ the God of the Bible?!" he couldn't believe what he was hearing, though given the nod of confirmation he received, it was clear it wasn't a joke.

"Though it does depend on your definition of _kill_ ," he found himself narrowing his eyes at that claim, "he has been out of commission for a few thousand years but is likely to return sooner or later."

He found himself staring at her blankly at that claim.

"So… is he dead or not?" it was a simple question but the answer didn't really help much.

"He is both dead and alive," he found himself close to boiling over, "Aleph managed to kill his consciousness, rendering him what humans would call 'brain dead', however he is still maintaining all of existence despite that issue."

Okay, that was a little easier to understand, though he had to admit that the sheer thought that someone managed to do that much damage to the God of the Bible was mind-blowing.

"That Aleph person must have been really powerful," he said with awe at the thought of anyone possessing such power.

"He was only capable of attaining such power due to his destiny and the COMP he had in his possession," she informed him easily, making Harry frown at the unfamiliar term.

"What's a COMP?" he had to admit he had never heard of such a thing before.

"An object created by humans to subjugate demons," he found his eyes widening at that claim, "they possess the power to make contracts with and store demons just as Naoki does."

"Naoki?" that was a name he couldn't recognise and the smile that graced the Greek Goddess of the Night's lips told him she was amused he didn't.

"Kashima Naoki, though he discarded that name when he chose to truly take on the title of Hitoshura," his heart skipped a beat.

For the first time he finally had another name to put to the face of his tormentor.

"On the subject of power however," her voice cut through once more, "you have the potential to greatly exceed Aleph in that department."

He froze at that claim… he had the potential to become stronger than the person that _killed God_?!

"As I said before, Aleph had both destiny and his COMP on his side," she informed him easily, "and without the COMP acting as a method of storing demons for him to use, or the harmonizer effect it emitted, he would've been slaughtered long before he became strong enough to kill Yahweh."

"Harmonizer?" another term he was unfamiliar with.

"An energy field that… makes the internal energies of humans and demons more alike, allowing for humans to harm demons when they normally couldn't," she explained as simply as she could, "I do not know more than that."

"So if a human has a COMP then they can defeat demons?" he asked for confirmation and the smile he received in response was rather telling.

"Indeed, however what you seem to be unaware of is that humans _can_ defeat demons even without a COMP," his eyes widened at that claim, "it simply requires a lot of training and skill."

"So are you saying that humans can defeat you if they're skilled enough?" he asked, earning a shake in the negative from the deity.

"No, without a COMP, humans are limited in the power they can achieve, however it does not change the fact that a suitably strong and skilled human can defeat a low level demon without one," he released a sigh of relief at that explanation, he hadn't realised she had been talking about weak demons as opposed to all demons… not that it was much of a relief, he was still a low level demon as far as he was aware.

"Well, I guess that is a bit of a relief," he admitted upon letting his thoughts finish as he had another sip of mead.

Then his mind started to wander towards other issues that currently plagued him.

"Nyx, what do you know of the Fae?" he asked earning a sigh off the deity.

"I know that their king is trying to form an army to declare war on Ginza and that their queen has managed to find somewhere to hide," she stated bluntly, "but that is all I know of."

"Yeah, Titania wants nothing to do with a war," he informed her easily, "but given what I've heard of Oberon, I'm worried about what he'll do if he finds her."

The purple skinned woman looked at him for a few seconds before a knowing smirk graced her lips.

"I see, so you are the one hiding their queen," she stated easily, causing him to flinch at how easily she managed to deduce that piece of information, "while I have no intention of interfering in a civil war amongst the Fae, that doesn't mean I can't give some advice on how to prepare for it."

He perked up at that claim, he hadn't expected her to get involved, however it didn't change the fact that she was currently giving him some advice.

"You know how to travel between worlds correct?" he gave a hesitant nod of confirmation, "then search for other worlds and meet those worlds Fae, they may very well be prepared to assist."

He found his eyes widening at that suggestion, it wasn't something he had considered before, namely because he wasn't confident in his ability to go anywhere in existence, however gaining support from other versions of the Fae definitely sounded like a valid idea.

The main problem of course would be finding which Fae he could trust, just because they were technically the same didn't mean they would be benevolent towards their counterparts.

And unfortunately, he didn't know how he would find the Fae that would help.

"Thanks for the suggestion, but I'll need to be careful if I do that," he thanked the Greek Goddess, "there's no telling if the other Fae will help or take advantage of the situation."

The nod and smile he received from the significantly older demon told him everything he needed to know.

"It is good to see you understand that issue," she knew just what the problems with that were.

"Were you planning on telling me or finding out for myself?" he asked, curious what her answer would be… either way it wouldn't change his opinion of her, demons didn't need to be helpful or include all the available information when they offered it after all.

"If you were ignorant of it then I was," she admitted with a small smile.

"Thanks Nyx," he gave her a small smile before finishing off his mead, "that was good, have you got anymore?"

"The next drink isn't on the house," she stated with a smirk, "I've got enough of Loki trying to get free drinks, I don't need another."

He just laughed in response.

Who knew Loki was an alcoholic?


	19. Chapter 19

Harry had to admit that his training was going at least reasonably well… then again, the rate at which Jiao, Elisheva and Moana were growing was nowhere near his rate, so he was left wondering if there was something special about being a Hitoshura that made his training easier.

However that didn't really matter right now, he had kept track of the time in the Vortex World after all and the fact was that his time was coming to an end.

After all, he had reason to want to go to class, even if that reason was purely to see if Professor Flitwick was right about it being possible for him to learn more about himself by attending.

Of course there was the possibility that he wouldn't learn anything of value that he couldn't gleam from a book in his spare time, but he was willing to try and if it turned out to be a waste of his time… well, he had the rest of eternity to make up for it.

So he simply stretched a little as he finished his rounds within Ginza, noting how despite defeating many foes during his stay, there were still plenty raring to have a go at him.

He also had to admit, that for the first time ever, fighting in the Vortex World didn't feel like a chore.

There had only been two other times when he had been involved in conflict during his visits and both of those times, that conflict was preventing him from fulfilling his goal of returning to his home world, however for the first time ever, his goal had been to fight these demons for the experience and power doing so granted him.

And it was refreshing to not have to worry about some end of level boss type demon waiting for him at the end of the journey, though he knew that sooner or later, he would have to deal with that sort of foe once again.

However today would not be that day, that was one thing he could be certain of as he walked into the Terminal Chamber and prepared himself to transfer back to Hogwarts.

Silently he wondered if his confidence was misplaced and the Hitoshura would once again interfere in the transportation function only to breathe a sigh of relief upon arriving back in the done up Chamber Of Secrets.

"Well, that was a relief," he muttered under his breath as he once again summoned his allies to his side now he was no longer travelling through all of existence.

"Ah, that was hard work," Moana stated as she stretched in a manner he was sure was intended on emphasising her bust and it most certainly did just that, "how about giving me a reward master?"

He released a sigh of annoyance at her request, he could already tell what sort of reward she was after and he still felt he should at least wait until he hit puberty… though his resolve did waver given the tantalizing sight that she was currently giving him.

Fortunately, his resolve had wavered several times since he met her so he had some experience pushing down that desire.

"Like I keep saying Moana, not until I've hit puberty," he once again stated with a sigh.

"I like I keep saying, if that's the case then find it soon," she seemed just as annoyed as he did that he wasn't reaching the point when he was prepared to 'reward' her yet.

Maybe he should go to the school nurse and ask her if there were any easy ways of telling if you're undergoing puberty, that would probably get Moana off his back for a while.

"Can you please stop talking about that?!" Jiao practically shouted, "seriously Moana, is sex the only thing you ever think about?!"

"Yep," the dark haired woman responded with a satisfied grin, "why else would Harry name me Moana Lotte?"

"Where did the Lotte come from?" he asked upon hearing that statement.

"Now now, you know as well as I do that I was named after that woman on some of your uncles adult videos, so why not just go by her full name?" she asked him, earning a groan from the boy.

"That isn't her real name," he stated bluntly, knowing full well that actors of any kind usually used a different name to the one they were given at birth in order to make themselves sound more appropriate for the job.

"So? It is now my real name!" she declared firmly, causing him to release another sigh.

"Well, I guess I can't really argue can I?" he gave in, she was already capitulating on letting him hit puberty first (even if he could order her to stop completely).

"Nope," and with that he found himself walking towards the entrance of the Chamber, ready to go to class.

"Hey Harry," he paused upon hearing Jiao speak up, "is it alright if I go with you?"

He had to admit he was not expecting that request but in the end, it didn't really matter as far as his answer was concerned.

"Sure thing," and with that, he noted the bright smile that lit up her face before she fluttered over and took a seat on his shoulder, "so what brings this on?"

"I want to see the school with my own eyes," she admitted easily, causing him to nod of understanding.

From what he had managed to find out, while the group knew what was happening when they were still in storage, they got all the information as a sort of info dump and lacked any sense of weight compared to when they experienced the world themselves.

So he was more than willing to let them leave the Chamber and wander the castle, the fact that the headmaster now knew that he was a demon and was at least, partially okay with that only decreased his previous concerns about it to minimal levels.

"Alright then, let's go," and with that, he left Moana and Elisheva to their own devices in the Chamber.

XXX XXX XXX

Elisheva did not know what to think upon seeing her master leave the room with the Jirae.

She had joined him because she knew God was dead and needed some form of guidance, which she had hoped to find in the boy that seemed to consider Angels a divine existence that shouldn't be attacked.

Now she had discovered that he had a destiny that he was ignorant of and he was unintentionally causing damage to the timeline due to being Touched By Chaos.

That wasn't to say he was a bad master, no, if anything he was a bearable individual with issues that made him less than perfect... and honestly that lack of perfection was reassuring.

Only God was perfect.

Only God did not make mistakes.

Only God should live forever.

But now this boy was being approached by the Seraph, who intended on making him fulfil his destiny as closely as possible and the only other option was his destruction.

That did not seem just to her.

He had mentioned a mutually beneficial relationship between him and the Archangels but they had simply thrown that option in his face and demanded complete subjugation.

It was clear they had never been Guardian Angels.

As a former Guardian Angel, she knew that the main strength of humans was their ability to co-operate and that the key to successful co-operation was that both parties benefitted from the arrangement, after all, if both benefit then neither has a reason to break off relations.

And her master intended on becoming strong enough to slaughter the Archangels, not because of any qualms he had with them, but because of his personal battle against a foe that was far stronger than them.

Eventually she knew that their relationship would break down and her master would be forced to destroy them because of their own arrogance but she found herself not only understanding why such a situation would occur but also acknowledging that even if she wasn't technically enslaved, she would pick up the fight with the boy that was being stepped upon.

"So, when are you going to start trying to get in his pants?" she found her heart beating faster at that question and her blood pumping higher as she gave her reply.

"I have no intention of performing such corrupted actions," she stated, despite her mind briefly asking what it would be like to get closer to her master… such thoughts were quickly pushed back, she knew that allowing such thoughts to consume her would cause her to fall, to become a sin based being of Chaos that thrived off dark acts.

"Really?" the incredulousness that graced the Lilim's voice was clear, "because you definitely tasted of desire when I mentioned it."

She felt nervous at that claim, the thought that her foe was perceptive enough to notice even her briefest lapses in self-control was not something she was comfortable with… especially not when these lapses were dark impulses that she must never act on.

"You are mistaken," she claimed in her usual monotone, hoping that her 'rival' would accept the statement as fact.

"You know, denial doesn't help anyone," and with that, the lust demon proceeded to float over to the seating in the area and lay on it before closing her eyes.

She chose to keep her silence, speaking any more would not help the current situation and only give the member of the Night Clan more ammunition to work with.

XXX XXX XXX

Daphne had to admit, she was still uncertain about how everything would play out in the following days.

She had sent a letter to her Parents about the Cerberus but had failed to receive a reply yet, she was honestly beginning to wonder if the Headmaster had wards up to stop such messages from leaving the school grounds but she couldn't be certain until she spoke to her parents or they sent a return letter.

Then there was the matter of Potter himself.

The fact that he had managed to terrify a Cerberus was not a laughing matter, neither was the fact that he was capable of speaking the language of dogs.

Honestly she found herself growing more and more concerned about his existence the more she watched him.

And then he entered the Great Hall.

She could do little more than stare at his shoulder as what was obviously a Fairy of some description was happily seated just right of his neck.

The fact that he walked down to her so calmly was only another point that caught her attention.

"Yo," he called out upon taking a seat after noting that his childhood friend wasn't in the hall yet, "did you have a good weekend?"

"Uh… do you know you have something on your shoulder?" she asked nervously, earning a small laugh off the boy.

"Oh yeah you people haven't met Jiao yet have you?" he seemed like he only just realised there was something he had been forgetting, "everyone, this is Jiao, she's a Hua Po."

"Hello," and with that one word from the little red skinned fairy, Daphne found her eyes widening in disbelief, it was common knowledge that most beings spoke their own languages, not English… so how was this little pixie-like creature communicating with them?

"Uh… Potter… what is something like that doing with you?" Malfoy sounded extremely nervous about asking that question but the response he received wasn't in any way aggressive.

"Oh, me and Jiao met a couple of years ago," he admitted easily, "she's been one of my closest confidents ever since."

Her eyes bulged at that claim, that tiny creature was one of his confidents? That just seemed too strange to be true.

It was clear that she wasn't the only person that didn't know how to respond, pretty much everyone in the Great Hall was currently looking at the boy and his fairy, that was including the teachers.

And given how Professor McGonagall was currently storming over, it was clear that she wasn't happy with the situation.

"Hey, Harry," the creature introduced as Jiao called out, "can I try some of the food?"

"Yeah sure," and with that, the tiny woman hopped off his shoulder and fluttered down to the table where she immediately started looking at everything available.

"Mister Potter!" the stern voice of the Transfiguration teacher called out when she finally reached the table, "what are you doing with a fairy?!"

She sounded angry at him and going by the cringe that Potter made, even he understood how angry she was.

"What did you just call me?!" she had to blink in surprise at the clearly angry response that came from the tiny girl, "did you just call me a Fairy?!"

Professor McGonagall looked dumbstruck by the reaction and nodded in confirmation.

"I am _not_ a damned Fairy!" the red skinned girl screamed angrily, "I'm a Jirae! We're completely different! Fairies are things like Pixies, Jack Frosts, Kelpies, Trolls… not JIRAE!"

Daphne had to admit she was beginning to grow concerned as the tiny creature raged on before turning an angry gaze on the rest of the Hall.

"The _next_ person to call me a Fairy is going to be _incinerated_!" and with that claim, the tiny creature showed just why they shouldn't piss it off by calling forth a massive gout of fire from its hand.

Suddenly the tiny girl's rant went from almost comedic, if a little unnerving, to outright terrifying, mainly because it was clear from the sheer heat being emitted by the ball of fire that it really _would_ incinerate a person if it struck them.

The fact that the teacher took several steps back in shock and fear only made it even clearer that the creature that was previously dismissed as nothing special outside of its ability to speak English, was a genuine threat to everyone there.

"Jiao, I think they get the point," Harry's voice called out, causing the tiny girl to look at him before letting out a sigh and ending the inferno.

"All right… but they'd better not call me a Fairy again," she stated with her arms crossed.

"Don't worry, I don't think they'll risk it unless they have a death wish," he seemed completely unfazed by the display of power that he had just witnessed… if anything he seemed almost amused by it.

How could he possibly be amused by such an immense power? Unless he was even more powerful than the fa- Jirae.

With that she regretted her previous thoughts about the Cerberus being the most dangerous creature she would ever see… if this was anything to go by then it would end up being one of the _least_ dangerous monsters she would come across during her lifetime.

"Mister Potter… why do you have such a dangerous creature with you _at school?!_ " Professor McGonagall asked incredulously, causing him to simply shrug.

"We go everywhere together," his words were clear and she found herself frowning at them, "she just usually rests so no one sees her… but she's curious about the school so she's come out to play for a little while."

"And I can try human food too," she stated as she picked up the end of a sausage and took a bite out of it before a thoughtful expression came across her face, "I suppose it doesn't taste too bad… definitely not in the same league as Magatsuhi but it's okay."

She frowned at that claim, she'd never heard of this 'Magatsuhi' before.

"I know, why else do you think I don't eat?" Potter seemed more than understanding of her claim though, so she decided to ask outright.

"What's Maga-sue-he?" she asked, knowing that she had probably made a mistake or two with the pronunciation.

"Crystalized emotions," the dark haired boy stated easily.

"…"

Silence reigned after that claim.

Crystalized emotions?

Potter and the tiny creature _ate_ emotions?

"Wait, you _eat emotions?!_ " she couldn't stop herself from asking incredulously.

"Yeah, once you taste Magatsuhi, you don't go back," at his claim, she suddenly found herself feeling incredibly vulnerable, if what he said was to be believed then he was capable of extracting emotion from others and feeding off it.

"I don't know, this white stuff is pretty good," the little red thing stated as she shovelled some sugar into her mouth.

"Guess you like sweet stuff then," the amber eyed boy stated with a relaxed smile.

And then she felt it… and heard a yelp from the tiny girl with butterfly like wings.

"Surprised by the bell?" Potter asked with an amused grin.

"Ow… that was loud!" the little Fai-Jirae, said with clear irritation in her tone, "is it always that loud?"

"Yep," the dark haired Slytherin stated with a smile, "anyway, have you finished eating? Cause it's time for class."

"Really?" and with that the tiny girl fluttered back up to her previous perch on his shoulder and took her seat, "then set sail for… where are we going?"

"Potions," Potter seemed incredibly amused at his little friends current attitude.

"Potions!" and with a small chuckle, the dark haired boy started walking towards the dungeons, with the rest of the class following despite clearly still being confused about how to treat this new variable in their extremely violent classmates existence.

XXX XXX XXX

Severus Snape couldn't stop himself from shivering as he realised he was going to have to deal with Potter again… and this time he would have a friend that seemed just as violent and powerful as he was.

He still remembered the previous Friday, it had been his first class with the first years since they arrived on the Monday night but he had already been sent to the hospital wing… something he had _never_ had the pleasure of doing as a member of staff before.

Certainly he had been there to help Poppy by supplying potions, but never as a patient.

It almost reminded him of some of James Potters more dangerous pranks and how they used to send him to the school nurse before they graduated… except this Potter did so completely intentionally while his father simply took things too far.

He still hated James Potter with all his heart, however he was prepared to admit that his son was worse… and unfortunately, he had nothing he could threaten the boy with, at least not without risking his health yet again.

The simple fact was that trying to follow Filius's example had resulted in him having most of his body broken by the boy, honestly it was only due to how spectacular Poppy was as a healer that he had managed to recover in time for this next class.

And now he was going to have to not only deal with the Potter spawn, but also a tiny little Fairy like creature that could incinerate the entire school population with minimal difficulty… he idly wondered if he should just dig his own grave now because he was certain he was going to need one when this was over.

Eventually he reached the classroom and entered like he usually did, he just knew he was going to have to put up with the Potter brat and his pet fire thing but hopefully the boy wouldn't decide to act out too much.

The noise that permeated the room was clear to him and he soon reached the front of the room and gave a single command.

"Quiet class," he focused his attention on everyone except Potter, silently praying the boy wouldn't take offence if he tried his best to ignore him, "due to… unforeseen circumstances, the previous lesson was cut short."

He could tell that his speech was getting to the group, the way they were no longer chatting and many were now nervously swallowing.

One in particular stood out to him.

"Longbottom," he snapped out the name, causing the pudgy boy to snap to attention, "what would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

That muggleborn girl, Granger if he remembered correctly, shot her hand up like a rocket, however he chose to ignore her.

"Uh… uh… I don't know p-professor Snape," good lord that child was pathetic.

"Tut tut, didn't think you'd open a book before you came to class boy?" he spoke with his usual sneer however he knew he didn't have the luxury of seeing how far he could push when Potter was in the class, so he settled with simply punishing the boy for failing to answer the question, "ten points from Gryffindor."

He glanced over to Potter to make sure the boy wasn't about to tear him limb from limb… only to note the amused grin that spread across his face and even the face of his little fire fiend thingy.

Despite that he wasn't prepared to risk wasting any more time and wrote the instructions for the boil-cure potion on the board.

"Well, what are you waiting for, find a partner and get started!" he snapped angrily upon seeing the class sitting around dumbly… except for Potter, he seemed to be copying the instructions before setting out the required ingredients.

He looked at the partner the boy took for the potion and discovered it was the _other_ muggleborn witch that was sorted into Gryffindor, the girl that was apparently an old friend of his.

The fact that she didn't seem even remotely surprised by that little red creatures presence told him quite a lot about just how open the boy was with her.

The time passed slowly as he watched over the students brewing and screwing up simple instructions, if he was right then the Longbottom boy was going to have a melting cauldron in about ten minutes if not sooner… honestly there were only really four groups that were doing the potion correctly.

Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson were proving themselves capable, then again, he had given Draco plenty of instruction in the art of Potion making when he was younger so he _should_ be more than capable of this potion.

The Second group that was getting things right was Daphne Greengrass and Tracey Davis, again, neither was a surprise due to the fact that they came from long lines of purebloods, even if Davis was now a half-blood due to her father marrying a half-blood.

The third pair that showed some talent was the one with that Granger girl. Despite her status as a muggleborn she was displaying a great focus on following the recipe perfectly. Of course that didn't mean the potion would be perfect, a true master knew how to analyse their ingredients and determine the exact adjustments that needed to be made to perfect the potion, but at least she wouldn't be making stupid mistakes that could cost her a cauldron.

And the final group that was pulling off the potion was Potter and his friend. The part that truly caught his attention however was the fact that the boy seemed to be unknowingly analysing the ingredients and making reasonable adjustments that would result in what would probably be either the best, or the second best potion in the class, dependant on Draco's performance.

The fact that the boy seemed to be taking the lesson at least mostly seriously was a surprise however, he had expected the boy to dismiss it quickly but he was clearly focusing while communicating with his partner quietly.

That's not to say his partner was being anywhere near as good, clearly she was nowhere near as focused as he was and her voice was starting to rise.

"Ten points from Gryffindor for talking Miss Jones," he called out, hoping that the boy wouldn't take exception to his decision.

The smirk that graced the young teens lips and the words he mouthed only proved to him that he was seriously misjudging the previously violent boy.

 _Told you so._

The girl simply crossed her arms and huffed in an undignified manner in response to the little monsters statement.

However Severus was more concerned about the fact that the boy appeared to be on his side with that decision.

From what had happened the last time the boy had had potions, he had expected the child to take offense to anything that happened… but apparently that wasn't the case.

Maybe… yes, that was a good idea.

And with that thought, he made eye contact with the young girl and started sifting through her memories of the boy next to her.

What he saw was not what he was expecting.

From what he could make out, the boy was surprisingly laid back about most things, but had one hell of a vindictive streak when it came to people that chose to pick a fight with him.

However what truly surprised him was how the boy always insisted she do her own work, because she would need to be capable of doing it in order to get good grades and have a better chance of getting a good job.

There was however one thing that really caught his attention.

She didn't seem to do any accidental magic.

It was almost as if she was a muggle.

And then _it_ happened.

He felt his heart beat faster upon seeing her introduction to the existence of magic… and the fact that Potter wasn't human.

He had not expected that the boy was a demon, or that he had _two_ other demons and an _angel_ under his employ… or that the girl had literally sold her soul to him for magic.

Discovering so much that _shouldn't_ be right about the boy was too much, he needed time to collect his thoughts and make sense of what he had just learned, as well as inform the Headmaster about the situation.

However right now, he had other issues to deal with as Longbottom's cauldron finally collapsed and covered him in a horribly incorrect potion while everyone else in the vicinity was forced to stand on their stools… that would teach him to take more care while making potions, after all, it was better that he have a relatively harmless potion blow up in his face than one that could potentially kill him.

The fact that Potter and that Jones girl simply rose and crossed their legs so they didn't touch the floor while they continued to work on the potion calmly wasn't lost on him.

"Hey, Snape, why did that potion burn through a pewter cauldron but not wooden stools?" Potter's voice called out through the panic, making him raise one eyebrow at the fact the boy focused on that part of the situation.

"Because it reacted to the heat, not the material," he stated offhandedly as he walked over to the now squirming Gryffindor, "idiot boy, I suppose you added the Porcupine quills _before_ taking the cauldron from the fire!"

He pointed out the problem so others wouldn't make the same stupid mistake as he vanished the spilled potion with a simple Scourgify before commanding the Longbottom boy's partner to take him to the Hospital Wing, Madam Pomfrey would easily be capable of dealing with the boy's problem.

"Well what are you all still doing? Get back to work!" he snapped as he returned to the front of the class and noted that Potter and the girl that was once a muggle were still working easily, though the reluctant look on the girl's face made it clear she didn't want to be there.

And so the rest of the class continued easily, with Potter continuing to make an exceedingly good potion for his experience level.

Eventually though the class finally reached its end and he found himself waiting for everyone to leave so he could go to the Headmaster and inform him of the information he had just discovered.

"Yo Snape," he felt his irritation grow upon hearing Potter once again call out to him when they were the only two left in the room, "I didn't get a chance to ask you this last time before I hospitalized you."

He felt his blood boil at just how casually the boy was speaking of the event as if it meant nothing.

"But do you have any idea what can be done with a headless Basilisk corpse?" he had to do a double take at that question.

Of course he knew what could be done with one but the real question was why the boy was asking in the first place.

"And why do you ask?" he chose to question the boy, if what he saw so far was anything to go by then the boy wouldn't have any problems answering him.

"Well, I commandeered this secret chamber as my own private room but it had a Basilisk in it," the boy stated easily, "so I killed it with a mirror and decided to mount the head as décor but I have no idea what to do with the rest of the body."

Severus found himself staring in disbelief.

The boy just gave a simple and effective way of killing a Basilisk that pretty much anyone could achieve while claiming he was keeping the head as a _decoration_ … then there was also the mere fact that this secret chamber _had_ a Basilisk in it in the first place, that was even more disconcerting.

"And where did you find this chamber?" he asked, wondering just where the hell the boy had been to find it.

"The second floor girls toilet, the one haunted by Myrtle," he could only stare blankly at that claim before asking the obvious question.

"And _why_ exactly where you in a _girls_ toilet in the first place?" he asked with irritation clear in his tone.

"I was looking for the Chamber," he felt his headache increase at that claim.

"And how did you even _know_ about the chamber in the first place?" he questioned as he started wondering how to soothe his growing headache.

"Elisheva told me," the boy's response caught him off guard. He had most certainly _not_ expected the boy to mention the name of his pet angel.

However he decided to simply give up on questioning the boy any further… for one thing it wasn't like that toilet was regularly used, Myrtle tended to annoy everyone enough that they would avoid that toilet full stop, so it _shouldn't_ be too bad if the boy decided to use it as an entrance to his _private room_.

"A Basilisk carcass can be sold for a high price due to the ingredients rarity," he decided to simply inform the boy of the use of the carcass he had apparently obtained, "the bones are good for certain high level potions, the flesh has similar properties and the hide's natural magic resistance, flexibility, toughness and light weight make it ideal for duelling robes."

It was clear the boy was registering just what he was hearing easily enough, so he decided to add another point, "however it is the venom and eyes that are worth the most pound for pound, if you could extract either of them they would probably be worth about thirty percent of the rest of the carcass combined."

"I see," the boy sounded contemplative, "okay, I'll bring the carcass up later then see about extracting the venom and eyes… I still want the rest of the head though."

Snape found himself blinking at that claim before pointing out the most important part to the child.

"Do you even know where you would sell it?" it was a simple question and the boy's response was simple.

"Doesn't really matter," he could only blink at the boy's dismissal, "if it is only worth potion ingredients and a bit of money then you can get some for yourself and Dumbledore can sell the rest to add to school funds."

He almost gaped at the boy.

Did he have any idea just how much money he would be practically throwing away by allowing the school to take the money for itself?

"And why not try and sell it for yourself?" he asked, curious as to what the boy was thinking.

"Well, the Basilisk _is_ Hogwarts property and I'm already essentially stealing it's skull and brain so the least I can do is give the rest back," it was a simple statement however the boy wasn't finished, "now if the battle had been long and arduous then I would do what I could to get as much out of it as possible but… well, transfiguring a mirror isn't exactly long and arduous so I'll just stick with letting Hogwarts lay claim to it."

"I see," honestly he _could_ see the child's point, if it had been him defeating the Basilisk so easily then he probably wouldn't feel right about claiming all of it either, "are you finished with your questions?"

"Yeah, thanks Snape," the boy was just as casual as he usually seemed to be and the Potions Master finally realised that he would never be referred to respectfully by the boy… not out of a lack of respect but simply because that was how the boy was, "see ya next lesson."

And with that the boy left the room.

Now all he had to do was inform the Headmaster about what he discovered.

XXX XXX XXX

"Yes, I already know Severus," Snape couldn't stop himself from blinking in disbelief at what the headmaster just said in response to the information he had just discovered about the boy, "well, about him being a demon, I didn't know he'd killed a Basilisk with a mirror."

Severus still couldn't believe what he was hearing.

The headmaster knew he had a demon walking the halls of Hogwarts and was doing nothing about it?

"What do you plan on doing about it?" he decided to ask, hoping the man wasn't going to ignore the danger that was associated with demons.

"There really isn't much to do except try and ensure we don't have more incidents like your own," Snape found himself flinching at the reminder of what happened when he tried to push the boy, he still remembered the sheer humiliation of being bested by a child about one third of his age.

However, he was curious as to how much the older man knew about the boy's 'friends'.

"Did you know that little red thing he had with him today was also a demon?" he asked easily, earning a nod off the legendary wizard.

"Filius informed me just after breakfast," he admitted easily.

"Then I assume you know about his pet Angel and Succubus as well," upon seeing the shocked look on the older mans' face he felt a certain level of smug satisfaction at dropping that bombshell, "or the fact that he bought the soul of that Jones girl so she could become a witch."

The look of shock on Albus's face was almost too much for him and he almost burst into laughter at the dumbfounded expression the man wore.

"So, I think I will leave and allow you to continue adjusting your plans," he informed the man easily before turning and heading towards the door, "good day headmaster."

"Wait, Severus!" the old man shot up from his seat and Snape simply turned and gave him a grin.

"Now now Headmaster, I'm sure you have more important things to worry about than me," he simply stated before opening the door, "enjoy the rest of your day."

And with that Snape closed the door and started to chuckle lightly as he walked away from the office, leaving the clearly flabbergasted headmaster alone.

Sometimes it was just so enjoyable to get one over the older man.


	20. Chapter 20

"So… why'd you give away all that stuff?" Jiao had to admit, she did not understand Harry's decision to simply release the basilisk carcass to the school… then again, it was clearly done on a whim so it wasn't really that unusual for the boy.

"Why not? It's not like I have much use for it and it was just going to clutter up the room so getting rid of it seems like the best plan to me," he admitted with a shrug.

That shrug told her everything she needed to know. He didn't care enough about the thing to waste his time on it.

"Okay, got it," she gave him a smile as she sat on his shoulder without any issue, honestly it was nice to get to stay out with him instead of having to hide all the time.

It gave her a sense of relaxation that she couldn't have when in storage.

"So, what are we going to do now?" she asked him in curiosity, earning a small chuckle off the boy that owned her soul.

"I'm going to clean up my room," it was a simple statement and she found herself grinning in amusement as she realized exactly what that meant.

"This should be fun," those were her only words as Harry entered the second floor girls toilet and gave the ghost a friendly wave before making his way down to the Chamber Of Secrets.

XXX XXX XXX

Albus Dumbledore found himself worrying about what was most likely about to come.

Sure he wasn't afraid of a Succubus, what with his own sexual leanings leaning the other way but it wouldn't change the fact that having a creature like that show up in a crowded hall would cause far more issues then he was comfortable dealing with.

He just hoped the whole 'pet angel' thing wouldn't be as bad as he thought it might be.

Eventually dinner passed and he noted that Harry hadn't arrived despite his usual decision to spend time with his childhood friend… honestly, how Severus couldn't see the parallels between Harry and Rachael and him and Lily Evans was ridiculous, then again, the man was probably choosing to ignore those parallels due to who Harry's father was.

The rivalry between Severus and James had always been the thing of nightmares.

At least no-one in the school seemed too concerned about becoming Harry's rival, which if he was honest with himself was a very good thing… he didn't need Harry hospitalizing someone on a regular basis after all.

Suddenly the door opened and he was greeted by a sight that made his blood run cold.

Why had the by brought a headless Basilisk corpse to the Great Hall?

XXX XXX XXX

Minerva McGonagall found herself staring at what appeared to be a headless snake over sixty feet long that had apparently been brought up by Harry Potter.

Honestly, how did the boy even move it? It was too early in the year for a feather-light charm but it was the only way she could explain it.

"Grk," she found herself turning towards Professor Quirrell upon hearing the strangled noise that came from him and decided to ask a very simple question.

"Do you know what that snake is Quirinus?" she asked him with a raised eyebrow, honestly there weren't that many snakes that could reach that size but the only one she could think of was far too deadly for a child to so much as consider facing.

"Uh, well, it is… uh…" the man seemed shocked but in turn his stutter seemed to improve as he was clearly more focused on the creature that had been brought to the Great Hall.

"Mister Potter… while I appreciate your decision to donate the carcass to the school treasury," she found herself drawn to the headmaster as he stood up and called down to the boy, "why, exactly, did you decide it was a good idea to bring a dead Basilisk into the Great Hall during the main meal of the day?"

She felt her blood run cold at that claim, there was no way the carcass could be a basilisk, those creatures were capable of killing a man with but a glance. There was absolutely no way a child could so much as hope to face one and live, let alone _win_.

"Because no one told me where you wanted it," the complete lack of respect in the boy's tone was clear to her as she found her ire towards him grow even greater, "so where _do_ you want it?"

"If you could please put it outside then Hagrid can prepare it later," the headmaster didn't seem at all fazed by the boy's lack of respect but then again, Albus had always been overly friendly with pretty much everyone so that wasn't a surprise.

"Kay CSK," okay, that phrase completely lost her as the boy proceeded to lift the carcass over his head and start walking towards the main entrance… she would admit that she was surprised he already knew the feather-light charm but given his apparent natural talent at magic, she knew she shouldn't be.

But it did make her belief that he really was suited for Slytherin the most even more understandable.

The boy refused to be held back, he refused to show any respect for the rules and many other traits that were valued by Salazar Slytherin in his students. Honestly though, she wished he would stop being so antiauthoritarian all the time and actually _listen_ to the people who knew what they were doing from experience.

"So… CSk?" Filius sounded quite amused as he turned to the headmaster who simply gave the little man an amused smile before answering.

"Mister Potter decided to see what was in the Third Floor Corridor on his first night here," her eyes widened at that claim from the headmaster, "apparently he considers my decision to bring a Cerberus into the school and basically dare the students into checking it out as proof that I am a Closet Serial Killer."

Silence reigned across the head table as they all processed that statement before Filius started to chuckle, causing Minerva's ire to rise.

"Filius! This is not funny!" she barked out, honestly, how could anyone be so disrespectful of the greatest wizard alive?

"Personally I find it quite amusing," she found herself glaring at Dumbledore upon his admission about the terrible nickname the young Potter had given him.

"Even _if_ you find it amusing, it doesn't change the fact that it is extremely disrespectful," she stated with her eyes narrowed in an attempt to cow the older man.

"And yet there is no malice in his tone," she paused at the older man's statement, "do you understand Minerva? He isn't being disrespectful out of disrespect, but rather because that is simply the way he acts normally."

"But he should show respect to those that deserve it," she wasn't going to give up in her point about showing a lack of respect to certain individuals.

"And how many people has he known that deserve that respect?" once again she paused as she thought about that question, "remember that Harry has spent most of his life with the Dursley's and you yourself said that they were the worst kind of muggles."

She lowered her gaze at that, she had never considered the possibility that the boy hadn't had any good role models to look up to while he was growing up… but then again…

"And what of Miss Jones's family? I doubt he never met them given how close they seem to be," she pointed that out and she saw the older man smile in response.

"How many parents demand respect from their child's best friend?" she grimaced at that deflection by the aged wizard as she remembered Molly Weasley and her reaction to anyone that was friends with her children... or more specifically how she always tried to make them a part of the family regardless of how uncomfortable it made them.

"In the end, Harry simply hasn't had a reason to show anyone respect," the headmaster started before a small voice cut in.

"Actually, he knows how to show respect," she found her eyes drawn towards the fai-… _Jirae_ that had come with Harry as it sat on the staff table and tried a strawberry from the dessert menu, "you're just not worth it."

That blunt statement from the… what was it called again? Oh, yes, that was it, Hua Po, made her anger rise a bit at the clear disrespect of the headmaster.

However she found herself hesitating to argue with the creature as memories of fire and power scorched her mind. This tiny creature, no matter how insignificant it looked was _far_ more powerful than she was and trying to argue with it would simply be dangerous.

"May I ask what is needed to earn mister Potter's respect?" she found herself listening as Albus made that question, wondering what the answer was.

"It's simple, you need to be strong enough to beat him _and_ not on his shit list," the answer was more than enough to make her eyes narrow.

"And how many people are on that list?" she found herself wondering just what the headmaster planned with that knowledge.

"So far, there is Vernon, Petunia, Dudley, The Hitoshura, The Hitoshura's pixie and the mangy mog there," the little girl with red skin stated as she pointed towards the head of Gryffindor at the last person on the list.

McGonagall would definitely admit that she wasn't happy with that claim.

Especially given how Severus wasn't on that list despite pushing the boy far enough to hospitalize him… and that was yet _another_ reason the boy should be expelled from the school, assaulting people simply wasn't acceptable and yet Dumbledore and Flitwick both acted like it was _normal_ for an eleven year old to beat a teacher to within an inch of his life.

Honestly, there was a difference between being soft and being outright stupid.

The question was, were they really the ones being stupid or was she?

Harry had already shown that he had the loyalty of a creature far more powerful than it looked, and on top of that he had already displayed his own personal power by crushing Severus when he pushed the boy… so was it really a good idea to leave the boy unsupervised?

Oh dammit, her head hurt.

"I see," the oldest human in the Great Hall stated with a knowing nod, "I must admit that I wasn't expecting him to hate Professor McGonagall more than Professor Snape."

"He, Snape isn't that bad, he just tried to challenge Harry and… well, Harry likes to face his challenges head on," the little girl said with a grin as a groan came from another end of the table, clearly Severus had just overheard what was being said by the tiny creature.

"Then how about this question… what is this 'Hitoshura' you mentioned?" now that was another interesting question and Minerva found her expression losing its previous annoyance upon seeing the tiny creature hug its legs and look away.

"Invincible," that was the only word that escaped the Jirae's mouth and Minerva found her throat going dry. Jiao had simply given a single small display of power and she now knew the little beast was even more powerful than Albus himself… for it to call whatever this Hitoshura was 'invincible' was _not_ a good sign.

"What makes you say that?" Filius asked with a small frown, earning a dark chuckle from the red skinned being.

"You know what, forget it," McGonagall found herself blinking at that decision as the girl with butterfly wings proceeded to move on to some apple pie.

"What do you mean forget it?" Severus proceeded to enter the conversation and seemed more than curious about the sudden dismissal by the tiny being.

"I can't be bothered to explain it anymore," it was such a simple reason and Minerva found herself growing angry at the fact that there was apparently something dangerous that they weren't being told about out of laziness.

"And what if whatever this thing is shows us here?" she found herself asking, hoping the creature would have some answer.

"Then you'd better hope he doesn't bother with you," that… was not something she thought was a particularly good answer to a serious question like the one she had.

"But what if it _does_ bother with us?" McGonagall asked, earning a simple stare off the tiny creature.

"Then you had better hope it doesn't feel like killing you," and with that statement it returned to the apple pie it was trying.

"Isn't there some way to protect ourselves from it?" Albus sounded curious as opposed to worried.

"In… Vin… Ci… Ble," the tiny being said slowly and emphasizing every syllable, "this is the demon designed to kill god we're talking about here."

Her mind took a couple of seconds to process that statement and when it did, she found her eyes widening in disbelief.

This 'Hitoshura' was _designed_ to _kill God_?

There was no way that was possible!

"That… sounds bad," Filius was taking this rather well all things considered, though the question was whether or not the half goblin actually believed the little creature, "but why does mister Potter care about this creature?"

"It took an interest in him a few years ago… it was its decision to transport him to another world filled with demons that caused me to meet Harry in the first place," that little red skinned creature stated with a shrug.

"If that is the case then exactly _how_ did mister Potter survive facing these demons?" she asked it with a frown.

"He punched them," well that was a strange answer.

"How would punching them help?" Minerva may not have known much about demons but the general consensus was that they were to be avoided at all costs.

"He's really good at punching things," that… didn't really help at all.

She didn't get a chance to say anything else as Potter walked into the hall properly this time.

"That's the basilisk dropped off for Hagrid," the boy said with an easy grin before proceeding to move to a seat at the Gryffindor table next to that Jones girl.

Honestly, she wasn't sure she was happy with the boy corrupting one of her lions… the problem was that she already knew she couldn't control the boy.

In the end, all she could do was pray.

XXX XXX XXX

Okay… how the hell did Potter kill Sasha?

Wait, before that. How The Hell had he even _found_ her?!

It had taken him over six years to find the Chamber Of Secrets when he was at school and that was after so much investigation... even going so far as to enter places that no self-respecting gentleman would in order to find the Chamber's location.

And this boy had already gone and killed Sasha within the first fortnight of starting Hogwarts?

That was just not fair!

His initial shock had nearly given him away to several of the teachers at the head table, the mere fact that Potter had managed to do this before he'd even really started his education was both reassuring and nerve-wracking at the same time.

Reassuring in that he at least knew his 'equal' wasn't some stupid little kid with more balls than common sense, and nerve-wracking because it meant he would have to take the boy seriously if he was already slaying basilisks at the ripe old age of eleven.

At least he now knew he'd picked the right baby when he had accidentally blown himself up.

He still wasn't _entirely_ sure how that had actually happened.

But that was just the start.

The thought that the boy had fought demons and won… by punching them was making him re-evaluate his options for the year.

He was originally planning on having his host wait for a while and analyse the defences around the Philosophers stone, perhaps try to off the kid at some point in a manner that made it look like an accident… if he was anything like his father then he would probably _love_ flying, and that would be the perfect place to jinx his broom and have him fall to his death.

Unfortunately, a Bombarda was far more powerful than a bit of a fall when trying to kill someone through blunt force trauma and the kid had survived that quite easily so a bit of a fall during flying lessons wouldn't do that much to the boy.

Seriously, what was the kid anyway?

If he wasn't having to keep his existence a secret from pretty much everyone in the school then he would try Legilimency on the boy to see what he was capable of… unfortunately that would give him away and Quirrell wasn't powerful enough to stand against the other teachers now that his magic was being used to help sustain him.

Of course, that didn't really matter if Potter was _really_ good at punching.

After all, most wizards (himself included) usually kept themselves at a distance and in a ranged battle, with people like Aurors trying to disarm criminals of their wands since doing so usually rendered them easy pickings.

And creatures like Vampires were just kept at a distance at all times.

From what he could tell, Potter seemed like he would be a serious threat at either range.

Oh well… he would have to figure out how to get past the defences on the Philosophers stone anyway (which first required figuring out exactly _what_ the defences were)… and depending on how long it took, he may very well have to figure out a way of sustaining the corpse he was currently inhabiting.

Well… technically Quirrell wasn't a corpse _yet_ but he would be by the time he was done with him.

It was all just a matter of time.

XXX XXX XXX

Daphne Greengrass was feeling nervous.

Potter had just dumped a Basilisk corpse in the school grounds, proving that he indeed wasn't lying about the presence of a basilisk in the Chamber Of Secrets.

Which in turn proved that he wasn't lying about the existence of the chamber either.

That was something she wanted to see as a member of the house of snakes and so far Potter didn't seem too secretive (which was very unusual for a Slytherin)… that in itself made a certain thought pop into her head as she made her decision.

"Potter," she called out to him as the student body left the Great Hall after dinner.

"Yo," his response was short and easy as he turned to face her with an easy grin, "what do you want?"

His question was blunt and despite the wording his tone was non-threatening so she decided to ask what she came to ask.

"Would you be willing to take me to see the Chamber Of Secrets?" it was a simple question and one she found herself not getting the chance to grow nervous as the boy answered quickly and easily.

"Sure, I was just going to take Rachael down to see it anyway," his answer was quick and far easier than it should've been.

Thankfully she was half expecting him to respond that way so she wasn't caught flatfooted and managed to move beside the two childhood friends as they made their way out of the hall.

"Daphne, what are you doing?!" she found herself freezing slightly upon hearing the voice of her half-blood childhood friend, Tracey Davis, practically hiss out in concern.

"I am going to go and see the Chamber Of Secrets," she admitted as Potter stopped and looked at the other girl that had just decided to intervene.

"Daphne, that's just a legend," Tracey stated without hesitation before Daphne found herself raising an eyebrow.

"Then _where_ did the dead Basilisk come from?" it was a simple question and one more than capable of shutting her friend up as she started to open and close her mouth like a fish.

"So… do you want to come too?" Harry's voice called out as Tracey continued to stand around like an idiot.

"W-what?" the dark haired girl asked in shock, her fear of the boy making itself known over everything else.

"Harry… how many people have you broken since you started school?" the only person in Red in the group asked with a blank stare.

"Only about ten," the near instant admission made the blonde girl cringe… seriously, he was just far too open about the people he hurt.

".. I guess that's not as bad as it could be," that mutter from the Gryffindor made it clear to her that the girl wasn't even remotely surprised by his violent streak, "anyway, I want to go and see the Chamber of Secrets, so are you coming or not?"

It was obvious that Tracey wasn't sure what to do so she decided to put in some of her own input.

"He's already taken me to the third floor corridor to prove there really is a Cerberus there," she admitted, causing the other Slytherin girl's eyes to widen in shock, "he is being trustworthy so far."

"Well, I'm going, feel free to come if you want but you don't have to," Harry said before walking out of the hall and Daphne found herself moving after him as Tracey moved to her side.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" she gave a small smile to her friend upon hearing that question.

"Yes, Harry doesn't seem as bad as he makes himself out to be," she admitted as casually as she could.

And she honestly meant it.

Back on that first night she thought he abused his relatives but from the way he was currently acting, she had a hard time imagining him starting those fights.

He was simply too relaxed and easy going to go out of his way to harm others.

"… I guess I'll stay and make sure you're safe," she had to raise an eyebrow at that claim, surely Tracey didn't think she'd be any help against Potter if he turned on them?

Still, she kept her mouth shut as they proceeded up the stairs to the second floor corridor.

"Uh… Potter… that's the _girls_ toilet," she stated bluntly as he opened the door to the toilet.

"Harry?" an unfamiliar voice called out from the toilet and she found her eyes widening at being caught so early.

"Hello Myrtle," the easy way the boy answered and continued to enter made her jaw drop as she rushed in to make sure whoever he was invading the privacy of wasn't going to have to deal with his behaviour alone.

However upon seeing the owner of the voice she froze.

It was a _ghost_.

There was a ghost haunting the second floor girls toilet.

Harry for his part, simply ignored the ghost as he moved over to a sink and then _hissed_ at it.

The fact the sink moved into the ground and a large entrance appeared before them before turning into a set of stairs surprised her.

The fact he could apparently speak Parseltongue… not so much.

"H-he can speak Parseltongue?!" Tracey sounded shocked by the 'revelation' and Daphne found herself answering simply.

"At least this time he's speaking a _proper_ language… last time we went on a trip together he actually spoke Lupustongue," she stated bluntly.

"What?" the deadpan the other girl gave her said everything, "are you sure he wasn't just pretending to speak it?"

"The Cerberus talked back," the way the dark haired girls eyes widened at that claim let her know that she was not expecting that answer, "now come on before the entrance closes."

And with that she found herself making her way down the surprisingly bright tunnel.

Eventually they made it to another door, one decorated with a pair of large snakes with emerald eyes that Harry quickly hissed at causing them to open.

"Welcome back master," she found herself freezing upon hearing what was probably the single most sensual voice she had ever heard, "oh? Did you bring guests?"

She turned to face the owner of the voice and suddenly felt terror rushing through her veins.

It was a woman with a strong tan, long black hair, pointed ears, large bat like wings and a whip like tail with a small triangular tip.

There was only one thought popping through her head upon seeing such a creature and it managed to escape her lips.

"S-succubus," she whispered as she took a step back.

She remembered the stories she had heard about demons and the powers they possessed, how they were so far beyond wizards that simply being near one was considered suicidal.

"No, I'm a Lilim," the creature responded with a frown as it started to examine her and Tracey, "master… you wouldn't happen to be planning to have sex with these two before me would you?"

Wait… master?

…

HAVE SEX WITH THEM?!

"No, they're just here to see the room," the easy way Potter answered the creatures question made her look at him as he took a seat on a sofa near a massive statue of Salazar Slytherin… with the head of a Basilisk that was missing its eyes erupting from his groin.

That was just _wrong_ on so many levels she didn't even want to _think_ about them.

"Good, I want your virginity," the creature stated bluntly and Daphne found herself blushing up a storm at just how bluntly the creature was talking about such things.

"And you'll get it _after_ I hit puberty," the boy stated bluntly causing her eyes to widen in shock at just how easily he was responding to the statement.

"This happens every day," she found her eyes drawn to the Gryffindor girl that was looking on with amusement clear in her eyes, "Moana always tries to get Harry to have sex with her, he tells her to wait until he hits puberty and then when Moana starts to argue…"

The succubus started to argue about waiting just like the girl predicted.

"Elisheva steps in and hits her," she was about to ask what she was talking about before her eyes were filled with white feathers as an _angel_ descended from above and struck the demon over the head with its palm.

Daphne however found her attention drawn to the leather straps that surrounded its form and just how little was hidden from the imagination.

Seriously… how much of a pervert was the boy to get an angel to dress like that?

"Hey Moana, Elisheva, been a while since I last saw you," the Jones girl said with a grin as she walked up to the demon and the angel.

"Hey Daph… am I the only one seeing a muggleborn walk up to a demon like it means nothing?" Tracey asked from her position beside her.

"No… I'm seeing it too," she admitted as she tried to process the situation that was occurring right now.

It appeared that the minor argument had been discarded as the muggleborn started to talk with the two non-human creatures that had appeared in the Chamber.

Eventually though, she found herself relaxing as it became clear that the creatures had no intention of harming any of them (well, outside of the angel reprimanding the succubus but that didn't count in her eyes).

"Are you two going to take a seat somewhere?" Potter called out and she found herself jerking slightly as she looked around the room.

It was massive, there was imply no other way of describing it, though the addition of furniture made it look at least comfortable instead of cold and dreary.

Though the question was, "why is there a kitchen there?"

"Moana's a pervert and wanted one for 'kinky time' later," her blush increased tenfold at that explanation.

"But of course, that's the same reason I got the bed as well," the succubus admitted with pride in her tone.

She was about to ask about if they had ever used the bed before remembering the opening conversation.

Apparently Potter was still a virgin so the bed shouldn't have been used… but then it could have been a lie… but her legs were growing tired…

… She'd risk it.

So she moved over to the bed before sitting on the edge and marvelling at how comfortable it was on her derriere.

"Come on over Tracey," she called out, causing her childhood friend to swallow nervously as she moved slowly towards the bed and sat next to her.

"So… you're Tracey huh?" the one they called Moana asked as she moved next to the bed and looked her friend over before looking at her, "and who are you?"

"D-Daphne Greengrass," she stuttered out before she knew what she was doing.

"… hehe, I'm sure you'll make excellent toys for my master when he's older," the creature said and Daphne was about to run when Harry's voice cut through the room.

"Moana, while I appreciate the flavour, stop teasing them," his voice held a sense of exasperation, "they're my guests right now and should at least feel comfortable instead of outright terrified."

She felt herself relax slightly at that claim, though she was still worried about what the creature had said.

"Besides," his voice cut in once more, "why would I need to make them my toys when I already have you?"

"Does that mean you've changed your mind?!" the dark haired demoness asked with clear enthusiasm.

"No, you still have to wait," he informed her with a grin as the winged woman went limp in defeat.

She nearly felt her blood freeze at that interaction…her parents wouldn't be at all happy if she failed to gain his allegiance and seducing him would be one of the few ways to guarantee he was wrapped around her finger.

And the Potter family did have quite a significant political and financial pull in the wizarding world, which combined with his status as 'the-boy-who-lived' would make him one of the strongest players when he reached his majority.

The fact that he apparently had a demon and an angel under his employ only made his power even greater as far as she was concerned since it meant he had enforcers that were supposed to be far beyond the power of wizards.

Sending a Succubus to deal with someone was pretty much the same as sending a Nundu in how much terror it would create in the victim.

Or if the victim was from a 'dark' family, sending an angel would cause similar feelings of terror.

The fact that Potter had both under his control was only more proof that he was _nothing_ like the other students at school.

"What are you?" she once again asked, hoping he would give her a genuine answer this time.

The fact that Tracey seemed to panic was proof that her question was probably not one anyone else would be prepared to ask out of fear of the boy.

"I've already told you, I'm a demon," and once again he gave her that answer.

And she noted the way Tracey's breath hitched at that.

"Are you serious?" she asked firmly, wondering if he really was being truthful.

"Yes, I am a Hitoshura," he stated easily as he rested on his sofa, "a demon created from a human base for the sole purpose of killing god."

"If I remember correctly, you're the one that said the Goblins advised you to keep quiet about that," the Gryffindor said with a blank expression, causing her eyes to widen.

"So? I don't see the point of hiding it," he admitted with a shrug, "sure I won't advertise it anymore but I'm not going to hide it."

Her mind started to run cold at that claim.

He wasn't joking about being a demon… but if he was created for the sole purpose of killing God then…

"And do you plan on killing God?" she asked, wondering just how wrongly she had judged the messy haired boy.

"Nah, I just plan on killing the original Hitoshura," now that made her open her eyes.

"Why?" that didn't make sense to her but the boy wasn't exactly trying to hide anything yet.

"He turned me into a Hitoshura," it was a simple statement that caught her attention, "then he threw me into a world filled with demons just because he wanted to amuse himself watching me run about like a headless chicken in a place where my death wasn't just possible but likely."

She found herself swallowing nervously at that explanation.

"And in the end… I hate being forced to do anything," his eyes glowed with clear power as he made that claim.

It was that statement that made Daphne swear to never try and force or trick Potter into doing anything for her.

She just knew she wouldn't survive the retribution.

She was also not even remotely surprised by her friend's response of shivering at the implied threat as they proceeded to spend some more time observing the demonic boy and his minions.


End file.
